Legacy Ascending
by The Epic Pen
Summary: A few AU elements, the Sandaime makes a choice he never considered in cannon. He always knew the environment in Konoha was neglectful and destabilizing to Naruto. He decides to send the boy away with someone who can nurture him. As a result, a more worldly and competent Naruto returns to the leaf years later. His story begins here, think you know it? Think again.
1. Prologue

**A/N Okay! Back at it again! This story will be the project I focus on in my free time for the foreseeable future. Although I don't really have much free time, so expect sporadic updates. Eventually, however, I believe this story will grow to a respectable length. Feel free to skip to the story, below is a short explanation of the butterfly effect and an example, I've also written down some key features you can expect from this story onward.**

 **Let me do a quick rundown of the Butterfly Effect. In fan-fiction, this is when a - usually - small thing in the timeline happens differently, but it has far reaching consequences because that small change led to other small changes. The changes to the timeline spread in a ripple like fashion. They're oftentimes small, but they give rise to the "alternate universe". AU for short.**

 **To make an example: How do you think Hinata would turn out if she never meets Naruto early on or in the academy, I can tell you she never does in this fic. Would the loss of Naruto's ever present confidence and positivity make her an even more withdrawn person? Or would she perhaps grow into her role as a clan heir without Naruto's presence acting like a crutch to her? It's difficult to say. Effects like this will be explored.**

 _ **This story will feature:**_ A worldly and fairly strong Naruto right of the bat. Detailed action. A well set up plot. A good amount of research on my part, I don't think you'll spot too many errors. A Time-skip. Foreshadowing. An _actual_ plot. Some gore at times. A pretty large and varied cast of characters. A slight Alternate Universe caused by the Butterfly Effect. Good dialogue. Some character growth.

 _ **This story will not feature:**_ Consistent updates, I'm very sorry about that. Little to no Cliches, if I actually end up doing a Cliche move, you can be damn sure I'll at the very least do a new spin on it. No Gary Stue. No Plot-armor, no prophecy stuff. No character-bashing. No Fan-girl fawning. No Fem-Kyuubi. No twelve year old's in serious relationships. There will be no time-travel. No Deus Ex Machina Jutsu. And lastly, there will very rarely be people shouting out their Jutsu before they use them. I just don't think it translates well into written form.

 **Now! On with the show!**

* * *

 **Legacy Ascending**

Prologue

 _Thump._

 _Thump._

 _Thump._

Naruto quickly realized who the person knocking on the door was. Three slow knocks, so soft one could hardly hear the raps. To be truthful, in Konoha there was only one person who actually ever _knocked_ on his door, as the housekeeper would simply barge in. By an easy process of elimination, this could only be one person.

Naruto stepped over to his door and opened it carefully. In front of him was a formal white-robed old man, standing at the second story porch of his new apartment.

"Hello, Naruto-kun." The old Hokage's eyes crinkled with merriment.

"Jiji." The single word was filled with warmth. Naruto pushed the rest of the door open and gave the grandfatherly figure a hug. This breach of etiquette was something the old man didn't mind in the slightest. Therefore, Naruto never noticed the concealed three-man ANBU squad watching them. They refrained from intervening – they knew the Hokage would only be displeased by that.

"Let's go inside Naruto-kun, I have something important to discuss with you today." The Hokage said friendly, and took great amusement from how Naruto's eyes became bulbous at the mention of anything "important". He nodded quickly and took the Hokage by his sleeve; Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled and followed amiably.

The one-room apartment Naruto inhabited was a bare place, but he didn't mind that so much, he thought of his new home as pretty nice. The place only had the essentials, but he didn't mind. Compared to the orphanage, Naruto considered the second-story apartment to be wonderful. He could handle being a bit lonesome, at least no one was mean to him here.

None of that was on his mind now, however.

Naruto's eyes were firmly glued to the old and venerable village leader as they sat down by the kitchen table, eager to know what the Hokage considered important. Sarutobi Hiruzen met his eyes and noted how the young boy held his gaze, Sarutobi was unsurprised. A normal child would not gaze so expectantly at him like Naruto was doing just now, but Uzumaki Naruto was _not_ a normal child.

Indeed, Naruto was far removed from normalcy.

Not so much because of who he was and what he represented, in essence that was not truly the issue. The real problem was how others wrongfully perceived Naruto and his plight. The child had by no means experienced a good or nurturing childhood so far, and it was Sarutobi's great fear that if left unattended much longer, something in the boy would break. That would not only be reprehensible morally, but neither could Hiruzen afford to have Konoha's new Jinchuriki become unstable.

A slight twitch on his furrowed forehead was the only thing that could clue someone in on the Hokage's increasingly morbid thoughts. With a resolute intake of breath, Hiruzen ended that train of thought. Today, he was here to help Uzumaki Naruto, the boy. Not the Jinchuriki of Konoha.

Meeting Naruto's eyes again the old man registered how the boy neither seemed impatient or fidgety, a trademark in young children. Instead, it seemed Naruto was busy regarding him with a neutral gaze. It saddened the old village leader to see someone lose a part of their innocence so early. It saddened him, but he was not surprised.

Hiruzen had taken note early on when Naruto had shown himself to be a rather quiet child, he only rarely made requests, he never cried, and lately seemed to not wish any attention on himself. Every time Hiruzen had come to the orphanage to pay a visit, the boy had seemed more and more withdrawn. This had for a long time now greatly displeased the famed Professor of the shinobi, although he was a hardened war veteran accustomed to making decisions between a greater and lesser evil, he nonetheless considered the treatment of the child in front of him unacceptable.

Removing him from the Orphanage had been a very good idea, and he was glad he had pushed on with it despite the resistance the foolish council had displayed. That gambit however, had been an easy ordeal compared to the trouble he had gone through with to see this next plan come to fruition. In truth, Hiruzen was still anxious about the events that were about to unfold, but he just couldn't see any other valid option.

Naruto had no guardians or adopted parents, he had no real friends or people who looked after him, no one to teach him anything. The lack of any adult role model and true friends was bad enough, but the outright disregard many of the villagers treated him with made Konoha a toxic environment for Naruto. None of the reprimands and fines he issued seemed to shake the ones repeatedly causing Naruto problems. Which had driven Hiruzen to this last act of desperation. A gamble, really. One with high stakes.

Hiruzen hoped it would all be for the better in the end, but the uncertainty remained.

"Hmm, I think a cup of tea would do me good right about now," Hiruzen announced and stood back up. "How about you, Naruto-kun?" Hiruzen made sure to ask Naruto, very few people cared for the boy's opinion and wishes. It truly upset the wizened old man, neglect to such a degree could do far more than simply shatter a person's self-confidence and sense of worth - as if that alone was not bad enough.

Hiruzen's smile was just a tad melancholic when Naruto accepted a cup of tea with a self-conscious smile. All the more reason to realize the plan, Hiruzen mused.

While pouring water, Hiruzen tried to make some small talk.

"It's nice to do normal things once in a while. I have not brewed my own tea in years . . . there is a satisfaction in that, you know, in doing things yourself, even mundane things."

Naruto seemed to consider this, before he ventured to tell the grandfatherly figure how he made his own ramen by adding hot water to a premade cup every morning. The Hokage hummed in amusement. "Very good Naruto-kun, although you seem to be short on stock." The old man was referring to the near empty shelf of ramen cups.

Naruto dipped his head twice. The Hokage sighed and carried two cups filled with steaming tea to the table.

"On the topic of stocking up, Naruto-kun, I do have some more stipend money for you." He reached into his robes and pulled out a yellowed convolute and laid it next to Naruto's teacup.

"Thank you, Jiji." Naruto told him; however, there was a slight frown on his face.

"Something that bothers you?" The Hokage asked with a curious glint in his dark eyes. Naruto looked up, then down at the convolute again, before finally asking: "So soon?"

"Ah, yes, it has not been quite a month yet has it? Well, this will be the last time you get a stipend. Now, don't look so frightened. There has been a change in arrangements for you, don't look so glum. This is good news."

"How?" Naruto asked, he failed to see this as anything good. The Hokage hummed lowly to himself, before taking a sip of the tea. His face writhed in an expression of dislike, definitely not his best blend. He cleared his throat and began speaking:

"You will not live in the village very much longer Naruto-kun, you'll be in someone else's company, a strong and capable man, who'll look after you and make sure that you grow up right. Of course, you will return someday, it's not like this is the last time we will see each other." The Hokage interrupted himself with a low chuckle. "This is only for a certain amount of time, a handful of years at most."

Naruto however, was not reassured. How could he leave Konoha, his only home? Leaving the only place he knew seemed horribly scary to him, he was still nervous about going to the grocery down the street.

"I don't understand." The boy's voice was clearly upset, and his eyes shone with evident confusion.

The Hokage's eyes softened and he stretched a hand over the table to give a comforting squeeze on his shoulder. "It's partly my fault Naruto-kun; I have not been able to give you as much as I would have wanted to. However, this is to help you, believe that."

Naruto nodded hesitantly, Jiji was the only person Naruto could really trust. "But why?"

At this, a bone-weary sigh escaped the old man's lips. "People here, they just do not understand, they never did, and it's impossible for me to rectify anything, these conceptions of you have become the truth to them. I should have somehow made things clearer that day . . . Listen, Naruto-kun, staying in Konoha is just not a good solution for you, I'm sure you have noticed how everyone treats you the same way. This plan was the best I could do, even right now the council is conversing behind my back because they are in disagreement. Fortunately _I_ _am_ the Hokage, and when I make a decision, there is very little they can do to oppose it. I hope, that when you come back, people will see the error of what they have been doing. If not, then at least you will be of an age where you can handle it better."

The Hokage took a slight pause, Naruto now looked only more perplexed.

"There are things I shall not tell you today Naruto, in a few years maybe, but not now, it is not something a child should know. Let it be enough that I truly believe this is the best course of action for you."

Another pause ensued, and in his absentmindedness Hiruzen took another sip of the tea.

"Ugh, dreadful stuff, maybe some tasks are better left to others after all." He said and peered over at the child in front of him. Naruto was looking intently into his swirling tea cup, he had always seemed a rather contemplative boy. Hiruzen did not have to wonder for very long what he was thinking.

"What about the Ninja Academy, Jiji? I was just about to start there, I'm sure I could have made some friends and . . . and things would get better, right?" The sad yet hopeful voice was enough to make the leader of Konoha cringe on the inside. This time, the answer to Naruto's question was plain to see in the eyes of the village leader.

 _No. It would not._

Hanging with his head, Naruto tried to stymie the sudden pressure behind his eyes. His throat ached painfully for some reason. Continuing the conversation from there was incredibly hard, but Hiruzen forced himself to carry on.

"You'll leave in two days, so be prepared to have what you need then, I imagine you at least won't have much luggage." The old man's eyes contained some of that earlier amusement for a small moment. Naruto dabbed angrily at his eyes with the sleeve of his T-shirt, before he tried to shove the envelope from earlier over to the Hokage, but a tanned and gnarled hand stopped him. There was power in that hand, Naruto could practically feel it.

"Please Naruto-kun, take it, it's the least I can do to give you some travel expenses." The Hokage peered at him with pleading eyes; Naruto quickly relented and felt very self-conscious again. The two sat together for a few more minutes, quietly drinking their tea. Until Naruto was bitten with a question that worried him. He took a quick look at the Hokage before he asked.

"Who'll be with me?" The Hokage looked at the boy over his teacup and smiled. A deep and warm smile.

"He is called Jiraiya of the Sannin."

xXx

Naruto had just finished what would be his last meal at Ichiraku ramen for a great deal of time, and for that reason, he had tried to eat enough to last him until he got back. Even as he hobbled down the road, his tummy feeling as if it would explode, he did not regret. He waved to the two ninja guards at the gate entrance as he passed, they actually waved back, and it lifted his mood somewhat.

Even though he trusted Jiji, he was still very much scared of leaving Konoha. Until recently, the village had been his entire world, Konoha was all he knew of. Despite the reassurances he had been given, he was still afraid of leaving everything, and the unknown world out there frightened him. However, he would still go, even though he didn't understand why, if he trusted no one else he still believed in the Sandaime.

"You look like a kicked puppy, hunching like that, what got in your panties?"

Naruto looked up; and standing there was Jiraiya, the toad sage. Jiji had told him a few stories about the veteran ninja, suffice to say Naruto was properly awed by them. If the few stories they had brushed past were true, then the man was already a hero in Naruto's eyes. Like the Hokage had described, twin streaks of red markings went from his eyes in a straight vertical line to his chin. His hair was white and long, and he was clothed in what Naruto deemed to be a red and white bath robe, with geto sandals on his feet. Naruto also thought the man incredibly tall. The meeting would have been intimidating, but Jiraiya had an easy smile, and his eyes were open and honest.

"You don't look like much kid, then again, neither did he, I suppose." His voice was deep but friendly. Naruto looked himself down; he wore shorts and a t-shirt, and nothing more apart from his sandals and a backpack with some essentials. Glancing approvingly at his backpack, Jiraiya asked:

"Are you ready to go then, kid? We can get to know each other on the road; we have all the time in the world! It'll be great fun, just the two of us." For a moment, the large man seemed like a giddy child, and Naruto's already good impression of him rose. He might even be a friend one day, the thought made him smile. Naruto followed Jiraiya out of Konoha with a lot of his worries already put to rest.

xXx

The two walked past the abundant lush green forests surrounding Konoha, Naruto was watching the scenery with large eyes; he had never been outside of Konoha before, everything past the walls was a new world to him. He would have run off to explore had it not been for Jiraiya, who had told me him there would be plenty of opportunities to do so later. The first few days Naruto would spend every break to explore the nearby greenery, when they made camp those evenings he would also look around. Young as he was, Naruto was easily excited when he discovered something of note, like animal tracks and droppings, signposts, abandoned cartwheels, rusty kunai and shuriken left behind and so on and so forth.

Although Naruto's interest in the forestry eventually faded somewhat, he was kept occupied enough while travelling. With questions, riddles and lots of talk. It was good practice for him; Naruto rarely had anyone to talk to in Konoha.

"But how do you do it?" Naruto asked on their fifth day away, Jiraiya was showing off some rudimentary chakra control while walking.

"Oh, it's quite easy, at least to me, but I am the great Jiraiya-sama of course, simple chakra control is nothing to the great Toad sage of Mount Myoboku!" The toad sage exclaimed proudly, wagging his eyebrows. By now, Naruto had realized the man had a flair for drama and was overly proud to boot.

Naruto, now finally in the presence of someone who actually seemed to _like_ conversing with him, was drawing up questions constantly. The bottomless pit of ignorance he carried within him was finally seeing some of its questions answered. At first he was slow and hesitant to ask, afraid he might draw Jiraiya's ire, as he had always done with anyone else, other than the Sandaime. But slowly and surely, Naruto opened up when he realized Jiraiya didn't mind questions or conversation in the slightest. To the contrary, he seemed to approve.

So, his new guardian had deemed it fit to give a demonstration of chakra control when the two had wandered onto the topic of chakra. Currently, Jiraiya was balancing several chopsticks on his fingers, perhaps not so incredible. But when he flipped his hand around and the chopsticks defied gravity itself to stick to his fingers, Naruto was well and truly impressed. He had been quick to try himself, and had promptly demanded to know the secret when he failed. Clucking to himself like a chicken, Jiraiya explained the theory behind the exercise.

"No, I can't do it." Naruto claimed after several attempts with no results, he shoved the chopstick back into his pocket. If he was completely honest with himself, Naruto was disappointed. He had wanted to channel chakra since the very first time he had heard of shinobi. But even after listening to Jiraiya's explanation and guidance, he still couldn't get a feel of his chakra at all. Jiraiya had described it as a very small, but warm core of energy. Something a minority of people could feel inside of them if they purposefully looked for it. Maybe he just didn't have whatever it was.

"Don't I have any chakra then?" There was a guarded tone to Naruto's voice, which Jiraiya caught. The kid seemed unconcerned on the surface, but he wanted to channel chakra as much as any other boy. Jiraiya was certain of that.

"No, every individual produces it to at least some degree. Most never notice it, it's too small to be noticed, which is probably a good thing. If they accidentally managed to mold chakra and used it unknowingly . . . with a very small and undisciplined chakra reservoir the incident could seriously maim them, or worse. But you have it, lots of it. I'm very sure of that" Jiraiya ended his tirade in a firm but not unkind voice, but it appeared he wasn't quite finished.

"You just have to keep trying, giving up after a couple of tries is a bad habit. Try your utmost and give yourself some time to learn. I promise you there isn't a thing you can't do if you give yourself a chance. Show some guts."

Naruto nodded rapidly and soaked up the words. He was enjoying having someone to talk to, he felt reassured now – and motivated to try the exercise again.

"Listen, a great deal of time over the years is going to be spent walking about, It'll be a big part of your life here on out. So try and get used to it. It's better to have things to do and think about when travelling, try and find things to take your mind off the road you're on. Like this small exercise in chakra control, if you're bored then don't complain about it, instead find things to keep you occupied."

As the words washed over Naruto he seemed to become more introspective, several times now he had already begun to think the journey monotonous and boring. Jiraiya's words made him feel guilty, and determined to try and not waste any time being bored. Surely he could find some things to do.

"Anyhow," Jiraiya said, and Naruto noticed how his voice was more carefree now. "We'll arrive in Tani in a couple of days, honestly, the trip _has_ taken a while. . . Of course, the reason we're going so slow is because your toddler legs are so small." The toad sage spoke with an amused glint in the eye. Naruto leapt to his defense immediately. "My legs not small!"

" _Aren't_ small, is the phrase you'd use there. And don't outright deny stuff like that, sure way to lose your argument, brat!"

"I'm not a brat either!" Naruto puffed out indignantly.

Jiraiya laughed heartily.

"Oh, is that so? How old are you then, five years? Six?"

"Five and eight months!" Naruto told him heatedly, but felt an embarrassing red shade latch onto his face. "Where are we going again?" He grumbled, mostly to get past the age comment.

"Tani, a village in river country. It's a good five day walk from Konoha to Tani, but still, would have been there by now if it weren't for the extra baggage." The last part he added sourly, and Jiraiya threw a mocking look at Naruto. The toad sage held up a hand to stem any outcry Naruto might have.

"Listen brat; keep at it with the chakra exercise, I'd recommend starting with a leaf first, it's easier that way."

Naruto nodded and decided to get started immediately.

However, Jiraiya quickly discovered that their already slow pace slowed down to a crawl when Naruto began focusing on the task. Jiraiya solved that problem by throwing Naruto up on his shoulders; he barely weighed anything to the sage. Other than a brief moment of surprise and resistance, Naruto did not object. That's how the two of them traveled down the road, Naruto sitting on Jiraiya's shoulders. Now trying to make a green leaf stay stuck to his forefinger with chakra, Jiraiya dished out some pointers occasionally.

Strange how it took Naruto a few months to actually realize he was receiving hands-on-training in the shinobi arts from a master.

xXx

It took Naruto a while to get used to life on the road, it was different from living in Konoha, and it was, to his great joy and surprise, a lot more fun. In Konoha he was always bored and looking for things to do, he was always alone, the people there avoided him and tried not to look at him.

Jiraiya looked at him. He was nice too, most of the time.

Compared to Life in Konoha, travel-life was infinitely more carefree and enriching. Although they spent a lot of their time journeying around, Naruto always had something to do, and more often than not, his days were filled with new and exciting things. New people to meet, new places to see and explore, different foods to taste and different things to learn.

The first month away from the village Naruto spent in a very busy manner, Jiraiya really made good on his word in that regard. It was quickly made clear that Naruto had never had any adult role model, or any consistent person in his life who could teach him any life skills. He had never been taught any values, never been explained how to treat people, or how to behave.

It upset Jiraiya how easy it was to remedy many of these things, but there had never been anyone to do it in Konoha. He wondered what kind of life Naruto would have been forced to endure had he stayed in the village. In hindsight, he had to agree with Sarutobi's decision to put the young boy in his charge.

The educator in him was especially angry at the blatant oversight, they had taken away Naruto's right to learn in many ways. Upset as he was, there was nothing to do but to remedy the boy, and Jiraiya did so with a passion. It became a habit for Jiraiya to point out things for Naruto, things no one had ever bothered to correct him on.

"You should try and hold the chopsticks like this, Naruto, it's easier this way."

Shifting his grip to mimic Jiraiya, Naruto gave it a try.

"Hmm, you're right, it's easier, I never knew."

In this manner, Jiraiya began to steadily fill in Naruto's knowledge gaps. During their stay in Tani, Naruto was stuffed with so much new things to learn he was a tad bit overwhelmed. In addition to the experience of being in a foreign village, Jiraiya spent almost a month there teaching Naruto how to read and write, simple addition, subtraction, some Geography over the elemental nations, and also a good bit of calligraphy.

All of it knowledge and skills Naruto would have great use of later in life, according to Jiraiya. Exhausting as his workload was, Naruto also thought it was very fun, and although it became duller after the novelty wore off, he persevered to the best of his ability.

Naruto became incredibly pleased with himself, when he early on in their stay in Tani managed to manipulate chakra. It was a tiny feat, really, making a leaf stick to your forehead with chakra was some of the simplest things you could do in the field. To Naruto however, it was a big success after a long period of arduous work. More than that, it confirmed that he could actually channel chakra, he had actually felt it that time, simmering deep inside of him.

Chakra.

Moreover, chakra he could _use_ and _manipulate_.

In time, he might even get good at it.

With all of this, Naruto was kept occupied. It was strange, how once, Naruto had had too much spare time; now he relished the few moments of free time that he had. He spent a big part of this time walking around in Tani, exploring the village was a fun experience. Although he was not allowed to stay outside after dusk, Jiraiya was strict on that.

The old man himself would often times disappear around the evenings though. He explained it was for research purposes, for literature. Naruto swallowed that, although he was not quite sure why Jiraiya had a tendency to smell of alcohol after his research.

Their month long stay in Tani was over faster than Naruto thought at all possible. Time had never gone by so fast before in his life, yet at the same time he felt like he had done _so much_ during that month-long period. The two feelings were strangely conflicting.

Their leave taking was unceremonious and sudden. The day before Jiraiya had simply declared they would leave Tani at first light next morning. And they did, Naruto only brought essential items, some provisions, a few books, and his writing instruments and paper. He still had his saved up money and the last stipend the Hokage had given him safely secured in his frog wallet, gamma-chan.

Back on the road again, Naruto walked beside Jiraiya with a spring to his step. He was excited to see new things on their new journey, additionally, he was curious about their next destination. This seemingly boundless energy did – thankfully for Jiraiya – wear off towards the evening. At that time he tried to work with what little chakra control he had.

Naruto began to focus and slowly, very slowly, molded the necessary chakra. Suddenly the clothing around his arms and torso became very snug, the textile clung tightly to him as if it had a will of its own. Naruto released the chakra and the suction immediately disappeared. He let out a small breath and prepared to do the exercise again. Like with any other skill, the more he used chakra the better he got at it. Jiraiya recommended he do some exercises several times a day, every day. Preferably in new and creative ways ways every now and then.

The next morning, Jiraiya woke Naruto early and introduced him to Taijutsu.

"Okay kid, let's see how you do with your brawns compared to your brains." Jiraiya spoke, and motioned for the still sleepy Naruto to come a bit closer.

"All right, like always we'll begin with the absolute basic. Look at me and do as I do. See my feet? Good, stand like that, now put your hand…-"

For the next hour, Naruto went through several different postures. He really tried his best to emulate Jiraiya, but he still missed the finer details of each stance – which annoyed him. Take for instance, weight distribution, apparently it was important how much weight you put on each leg. Luckily, Jiraiya could tell with a glance when he did things wrong, and he did not hold back in correcting him.

Naruto became impressed every time Jiraiya shifted stances, he did it seamlessly and faster than Naruto could blink. As for himself, He knew it would take a minute or so for him to copy just _one_ of those, and even then he would probably miss a couple of details.

 _Muscle memory is awesome._

Renewing his focus, Naruto took a deep breath and tried to mimic Jiraiya's pristine example once more.

As the two continued their travels, a pattern was starting to reveal itself. When out on the road, Naruto had his early warm-up and Taijutsu lessons with Jiraiya, followed by a primitive wash – water, soap and a washcloth – and breakfast. The two of them would then quickly break camp and head out on the road. A major part of Naruto's education and theoretical skill set was developed while on the road with Jiraiya.

The man had an undeniably vast well of knowledge, and he made sure to impart bucket loads of it to Naruto. When Jiraiya was not teaching theory or reviewing things his charge had been tasked to read or do, Naruto would try and familiarize himself more with his chakra – something he did when he got bored as well.

When they camped for the evening the two would cook up something tasty. After dinner, the pair would delve into their own branch of activities. For Jiraiya this usually consisted of writing in his books, delirious chuckles and laughter often accompanied this activity. Having taken to heart Jiraiya's words on meaningless boredom, Naruto would always plan ahead and have something to do before nightfall.

Like practicing Taijutsu forms, chakra control exercises, improving his calligraphy, his mathematics or some simple reading. The titles he read would vary, _Rhetoric for Beginners,_ _The Origins of Shinobi_ and _Applications of_ _Toxins, Poisons and Acids,_ to give a few examples. Naruto never developed a true passion for books, but he saw the value in them, and he would never say he disliked reading either.

When staying in a small village or a city however, the pattern would change. Naruto would sleep in for one, mostly due to Jiraiya disappearing for the vast amount of the mornings. He never revealed what for, even though Naruto asked more than once. These free mornings were a nice respite for him, waking early every day was taxing in the long run. He would often use them to explore the nearby area, whether he was in a rural hamlet or a bustling city.

There were always things to see and people to talk to. Jiraiya would usually pop in a bit after noon, the man would normally want a meal before getting around to teach him some more Taijutsu. After which followed an hour of theoretical work, a break, then two hours of exercise and theory on chakra. After dinner Naruto was left to do with the rest of the day as he pleased.

Time began to pass, but that pattern held strong. While it's untrue to say no incident of note ever happened, that pattern would only be slightly altered and added on throughout the years spent on the road. As Naruto aged, his lessons increased in difficulty and complexity. Suddenly he was being taught combat strategy, not geography. Calligraphy was exchanged with Fuuinjutsu. His Taijutsu sessions became increasingly tough, and soon enough Jiraiya began to add weapons into the mix. The lessons on chakra theory became more extensive and diverse with each year passing.

The days bled into each other and time blurred by.

 **xXx**

 _Six years later_

The Hokage of Konoha was in a thoughtful state of mind. He was sitting behind his desk in the Hokage tower while puffing his pipe absentmindedly. He was apprehensive to be sure, but he also felt expectant. A few moments earlier he had been informed that a rather peculiar duo was on route to the village. A tall white haired man, easily distinguished as Jiraiya of the Sannin. Accompanying him was a boy, he seemed completely normal and out of place in the presence of the sage. At their set pace they would arrive in three days' time.

That was the information given to him by the perimeter scouts.

It was also the reason behind his introspective state.

The Sandaime had long been awaiting the return of his former student and his charge, now that the day was finally upon him he felt excited. The pair had gone completely of the grid almost seven years ago now, Jiraiya had done so on his orders – and after a great deal of convincing.

Jiraiya still had his spy system in place – somehow he had found the time for it –, which was the only reason Hiruzen had gotten any updates on the two over the years. Both he and Jiraiya had agreed any direct contact should be avoided. Moreover, they had also come to the conclusion that they should mention as little of Naruto as possible in their missives to each other. It left Hiruzen with a very poor understanding of the boy, now, years later. However, if any of those missives had been compromised with valuable knowledge on the nine-tailed Jinchuriki . . . Suffice to say, Hiruzen had not dared take that chance, in this case it had been better to stay uninformed.

When Jiraiya arrived he would have him thoroughly debriefed. Very thoroughly. Naruto would also have to be tested and considered, in more ways than one. Once he had all the necessary information, he would decide on a plan of action, and quickly too. Before the council could find a way to interfere.

He knew very well that that he couldn't hide Naruto's presence in the village from the public for very long. A week at most. Besides, even with all the things he had in mind for the boy, hiding him away was not one of them. After all, Naruto was almost always the linchpin in his plans. In what manner and way would become clear by the end of the week, if not sooner. It all depended on the boy himself.

How had Naruto matured?

His earlier apprehension remained, but an eager anticipation had begun to take shape in him. Whatever the results, things would finally resolve themselves, in one way or another. Certainly, all the variables worried him, but at this point he was simply eager to have it _done_. Year-old schemes and plans were about to come out of the waterworks. In a few days he would set it in motion.

He gave a small chuckle, no one would see this coming.

Not the council.

Not the clan heads.

Not even Danzo.

 **A/N Was it good? Bad? I hope not too many left due to some improper grammar or spelling on my behalf. I am by no means a native English speaker, I only hope you can bear with it.**

 **Either way, hope you enjoyed the first chappie. Post a review if you want to fuel my inspiration, so to speak.**

 **The Epic Pen, signing off. Pun intended.**


	2. Homecoming

**A/N Hello! I'm back with the second chapter! Before anything else, I just have to thank** _ **you**_ **guys for being so awesome. 100 followers after one chapter is pretty impressive, and your reviews were awesome to read through. I'm glad so many of you enjoyed the beginning of this tale, and I hope you'll stick around.**

 **The only note of worry I received, was the issue of the Sandaime being too constricted by the council - which is a** _ **cliché.**_ **I went back and reread the section, and I have to disagree slightly. Mostly because, in the end, my Sandaime actually did as he pleased. Council be darned. Although, I could have made it a lot clearer, so I'm glad you guys pointed it out. I changed the wording a bit, so it's now easier to see what stance Hiruzen takes.**

 **With that out of the way, I urge you to read on!**

 **Legacy Ascending**

Homecoming

 **~ Somewhere in Konoha ~**

Haruno Sakura and her team was at training ground 7, doing their usual routine. Something she had come to dread. Sakura was a fairly normal girl, in her opinion at least. She was normal in the way that she had her strengths and weaknesses like everyone else. While she would never admit it to anyone, she could acknowledge it to herself that she wasn't particularly good at many of the practical abilities you usually see in a shinobi. Instead, she was very clever, and absorbed knowledge rapidly if given a chance.

The problem, she knew, was that cleverness did very little in the field by itself.

Glancing over at Sasuke, she could only marvel at his ability, sparring so evenly with Kakashi-sensei. Her teammates were both better than her in a real fight, even though Kosuke had consistently scored worse than her on tests. Sakura knew her limits, the past couple of months had taught her that much. Which was why she was doing push-ups at the moment. Coincidentally, her loathing stemmed from the pain in her arms, improving was just so _painful._

 _Not to mention useless! I haven't had any results whatsoever! Shannaro!_

Giving up the set, she crumpled onto the soft grass. _This isn't working. I've been doing strength exercises for weeks now. But I haven't gotten any stronger . . ._

"Okay," the familiar voice of her sensei drawled. "Let's call this a day. I have some important news for you."

 _Important news?_ Despite herself, Sakura found herself curious. Their sensei usually ended their day by simply disappearing in a shunshin. Things Sakura considered highly important was merely trivial to Kakashi, so this had to be grave indeed. Pulling herself together, Sakura walked over to Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke, who was griping for air after their intense sparring. Kosuke stepped into their circle, giving her a slight nod when their eyes met. The boy was fairly tall, but his bland face and brown hair made him forgettable in Konoha - most children in the village had the same shade of brown hair. He was okay in her books though, not that she would ever consider him a romantic interest. Her heart was only for Sasuke!

"Well, I guess I should start by telling you I'm proud of how much you're devoting yourself to the team, and to your own improvement. I've seen your dedication these last couple of weeks, it's completely different from before." He paused there for a moment, and gauged their faces with his single visible eye. Sakura could tell he was about to unravel the big secret.

"Which is why I've entered you into the upcoming Chunin exams."

The three students all had surprised reactions – even Sasuke had to blink a couple of times.

"What? The Chunin exams?" Kosuke was the first to ask.

"Yes, normally I would do this a bit differently, but this year will be, well, different."

"Different how?" Sasuke asked from the side, his neutral facade was back in place. Although there was a certain intensity to his eyes which Sakura found very compelling.

"Well, normally I would only inform you of the exam the day before it begins. This time that's going to be a hopeless endeavor. The rest of the contestants and their Jonin commanders are coming today, to get all of the paperwork and whatnot out of the way. The real change to this exam however, is the scale of it. This year all of the big five will have Genin participating. Keeping the exam a secret this time wasn't really an option. With all the foreign ninja coming here, you would have figured it out pretty fast."

A dumbstruck silence settled after those words.

Sighing softly, Kakashi picked up an orange book intimately known to him.

After a moment, Kosuke asked in a small voice: "All of them?"

"Yes, I was trying to impress the importance of this exam, the whole affair will set a very big precedent." Kakashi answered, his eyes not leaving the book.

"So, the five big nations are all gathering here, they're gonna be here today!?"

"Chunin hopefuls at least, accompanied by their teachers of course. Supposedly, even the Kage will arrive to watch the last and final stage of the exam. I guess they are too busy to be bothered with much more than that." Kakashi responded blandly.

"And we have to fight them?!"

"If you choose to participate."

Sakura decided to get some actual answers at this point. "What will the exam entail then? Explain something for once!"

Kakashi looked up, giving her one of his trademark smiles. _He's so creepy when he does that._

"Not much I can tell, all you are allowed to know is this. The first stage of the exam will begin next week at noon in the new arena, you can try and participate or not, that's your choice. If you want to give this a try, then everything will be explained there to you properly next week by proctors of the exam. Just be there a bit earlier than noon."

"Oh, that leaves a lot to be known, how, eh, how dangerous will this be, Kakashi sensei?" Sakura asked carefully.

The fact that her sensei didn't immediately answer that question sent worrying chills up her spine. Leaving his book for a moment, he began to answer:

"I'll be blunt, every Chunin exam has casualties. Some more than others, just look at how Kiri used to run things. But you already knew that. This year will probably have more casualties than usual, because there's a lot more Genin contesting. There are of course, safety restrictions placed, and outright killing is always frowned upon, especially when unwarranted. It's a waste of talent. A word of advice, you three. I nominated you guys yesterday because I know you have what it takes to make Chunin. You've shown me that already, you just have to prove it next week."

 _If he thinks that's encouraging he's sorely mistaken. He just told us people usually winds up dead!_

Kakashi looked them all in the eye, before leaving in a shunshin with a last parting word: "It's your choice, think it over."

Sakura felt as if some of the earlier tension evaporated with their teacher's absence.

"Well, that was a bomb I'd never have expected."

"You can say that again," Kosuke concurred.

"It's a good thing," Sasuke said, a slight smile on his face. "There have to be some strong opponents coming, this will be very valuable."

"I'm sure you'll find a worthy opponent to test yourself against, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said brightly. Seeing a good opportunity, she pounced.

"Hey, do you want to get something to eat? We could try and come up with some strategies for the exam . . ?" She cursed herself for not managing to keep the hope out of her voice.

"No thanks, I've got other things to do." Sasuke answered curtly, before walking away.

Rejected.

 _Again._ Why would he never say yes?

"Honestly, I don't know about this."

Sakura turned, and was surprised to see Kosuke frowning at the spot Kakashi had vanished earlier.

"What do you mean?" Sakura questioned him.

"Well, it just seems wrong to me." He said, still frowning. "I mean, what did we do to get nominated for this?"

"We completed that C-rank two months ago. . ."

"No! We just left the client on the road when we figured out he was trying to cheat Konoha. Remember? He'd deliberately asked for a lower protection detail than what he actually needed. Besides, when those B-rank missing-nin came at us, you froze just like I did. Sasuke and Kakashi did everything."

That made Sakura stumble a bit in her counter argument.

"You . . . You might be right about that, but we've gotten better lately. Even Kakashi said so! I've been training hard these past weeks, and I know you have too, Kosuke!"

"Sure, we're training hard, as are every other Genin trying for this exam. I just don't think what we got will be enough, and you just started taking shinobi conduct seriously a couple of weeks ago. Listen, I just don't think Kakashi is right on this one. Honestly, I can't fathom why he thinks we're even close to ready moving up in ranks. If it was only Sasuke I could understand, but all of us . . ."

 _He's right._ Sakura conceded to herself quietly, it actually didn't make much sense. Maybe she'd known it deep down too. She wasn't Chunin material, not yet at any rate. Then why was their teacher urging them to compete in something so dangerous? _He'd even gone as far as to nominate us, that's what he said._

Nothing made sense, Kakashi might be a lot of things – weird, impolite, standoffish and perverted – but he'd always helped them when they needed it. He and Sasuke, both had saved hers and Kosuke's lives on the botched C-rank mission to Wave. So why would he enter them into the exam when it seemed to be such a dangerous event, one where people apparently get killed.

"Are you not going to enter the exam then, Kosuke?" She asked, she wasn't sure if she wanted to enter herself.

"I don't know. We could always just forfeit if things look hopeless I guess, but what if we get into a situation where submitting won't save us? It could happen, if we get unlucky."

He shook his head.

"I have to think on this, maybe hear what the proctor next week has to say. If things look too hectic, I'm gonna stay out of it. It's not worth dying for. I'll be seeing you, at least we have a week to think things over."

Kosuke started walking out of the lush forest, leaving Sakura alone with her thoughts at training ground 7.

She was in no hurry when she headed home. Her thoughts on Kakashi and the exam kept churning in her head.

 **~ Later that same day – Road outside Konoha ~**

A man and his apprentice walked side by side down a stone-cobbled road. The last few hours had been spent walking in a relative silence. Every now and then a blast of air would erupt from the young blonde. It ruffled the older man's clothes, but he paid no mind. His apprentice was merely experimenting, a common occurrence. When the large wooden gate leading into Konoha appeared in the distance however, the man - one Jiraiya of the Sannin, could not hold in his dismay.

A long suffering sigh was heard.

"Well, there goes the last scraps of freedom in life," was his dry comment. The apprentice threw him an exasperated, yet amused look.

"Didn't they make a new hot spring here some time ago? I hear they supposedly made the baths communal." The boy informed.

Said boy looked to be in his early teens, and was dressed in a red and black long sleeved-shirt, a white shorts and a pair of black sandals. He had some distinct features, with his blonde, spiky hair and intelligent blue eyes. In a few years he would likely grow to become rather attractive, otherwise he appeared to be fairly normal. His name was Uzumaki Naruto. There was one other name he had claim to, but for now, he was just the two former.

"I'm not falling for something like that again." Retorted Jiraiya.

"Ah, a shame." Was Naruto's unapologetic reply.

It was getting close to dark outside, the setting sun in the horizon was making a beautiful array of orange and red colors.

Looking at the far off city walls again, Naruto couldn't help but feel a jolt of excitement run through him. He wasn't quite sure what to expect returning here, but he knew it was a statement to his progress. His teacher meant he was ready for whatever awaited him. Glancing back at Jiraiya, he noticed how the man didn't look excited in the slightest. He decided to speak up.

"Please, It can't be that bad, what happened to ' _Smile at your pain!'_ and _'Laugh at your despair!'_ "

"Ugh, you don't know! You don't know a thing! First, there's the debriefing, which will take a _day_ if I'm lucky. Then, there's the goddamn meetings, stupid clan heads and council leaders, almost all of them expect me to act with the 'propriety' and the 'dignity' that befits my name. Then there's the paperwork, oh the horror! The paperwork is the _worst!_ And then-"

"You're so melodramatic, sensei." Naruto interrupted mid-speech.

"And you have no sense for drama at all." Jiraiya quickly countered.

"I just have taste, that's all."

"Oho, what about earlier? When you stopped experimenting because a few scouts began observing us? That could have been very dramatic, imagine their faces seeing a kid training like that."

"Why should I tip of that I know elemental manipulation? You're the one who taught me not to reveal my strengths."

"Yes, yes, you're very cautious. In any case, I honestly doubt any rumor of your fledgling elemental manipulation will go very far."

Naruto halted to a sudden stop.

 _Fledgling?_

A sudden and powerful shockwave of air scattered the many leaves and pebbles on the road away. The trees shook slightly at the force of the wind-natured chakra. Several birds took off from their nests, screeching. Jiraiya paused for a moment before he looked over his shoulder at him.

"So . . . this is tasteful drama then, I take it?" He asked smugly.

The sudden quip caught Naruto off-guard, and he struggled to find a good comeback. Jiraiya leered at his hesitance.

"What happened to all that caution, though? Not to complain of course! It was quite the display of skill and power, I bet the whole stationed garrison felt it, wouldn't you agree?" If possible, the sage was even smugger now.

"Does it matter?" Naruto tried as nonchalantly as possible, he would not lose a battle of wits with his teacher. "Unless I'm mistaken, there aren't any scouts around at the moment. The ones guarding the gate will just think the great Jiraiya-sama had an anger tantrum or something. They might have felt it, but unless they have eagle eyes they couldn't possibly have seen me at this distance."

Jiraiya's previous smugness melted away into a sour expression as Naruto talked.

"There might have been a Hyuuga . . ."

"With their Doujutsu activated? Doubtful, I don't think Hyuuga's normally take guard shifts either."

"I count this as a draw," Jiraiya said and continued to walk.

Naruto shrugged easily, "okay."

"Listen Naruto, I'm going to clear the air with the old man, the faster I get this out of the way, the better. You have what I gave you earlier?" That last bit was just paranoid precaution.

"Of course I have it, how could I have lost it so fast?"

"I can never know with you, you know when to use it. I'll see you later." And with that he disappeared in a shunshin.

Looking onward, Naruto felt like hurrying. So he quickened his pace and made it to the gate in short time. Strangely enough, the gate seemed almost vacant. There was a small gatehouse on the inside of the wall, he could spot two dark haired men with Chunin-flak jackets. Both had just exited the gatehouse, to greet him he supposed. The security seemed a bit lackluster to him.

Was the Konoha shinobi corps so confident in their strength? It made little sense to him. A poorly guarded front entrance was more or less an open invitation. Perhaps this served as some kind of a subtle warning, or maybe there were some hidden shinobi in the vicinity. Only two guards seemed oddly neglectful at any rate.

"Hi." Naruto smiled as the two approached him.

The two dark haired fellows looked at him oddly. The one on the right, with a bandage covering his nose and face in a horizontal line, decided to speak first.

"Uh, hey yourself. So, what? Your team left you behind or something?"

Naruto blinked uncomprehendingly. "No. I don't have a team."

Now it was their turn being confused, a Genin without a team?

"Okay? Well, show us your shinobi license then. Where is your forehead protector for that matter?" This was the one on the left, his dark hair went down in a line that covered his right eye.

"Well, I don't exactly have a shinobi license, or a forehead protector. Quick question, how did you figure I was a shinobi and not a civilian?" That had irked him a bit. Most of the time he could pass off as an innocent boy when he wore casual clothes, but these guys had figured he was part of a team.

If possible, his sudden question after claiming to not have any ID confused them even more. The two shared a subtle look.

"What are you on about? Civilians aren't allowed outside the gates today, security reasons. You should know that." The left one said, the bandaged man with spiky hair on the right nodded to his comrade's words.

"Yeah, well, I doubt this guy is from around, Izumo. I'd guess he's-"

"Wait, wait, wait." Naruto interrupted. "Why aren't civilians allowed outside today? Is something going on?"

"Yeah, he's definitely not from around. But, Kotetsu, if he's supposed to participate, wouldn't he have been told all about the exam?" This was the one on the right, _Izumo,_ his brain filled in. The one on the left, Kotetsu, shrugged to his friends words.

"Not necessarily, some villages like to keep it a secret, I know Konoha do. Most of the time it's-"

"Okay, hold on!" Naruto exclaimed in an attempt to worm himself back into the conversation. "You got it right, I'm not from around! So, would you kindly tell me what the heck you're talking about?"

The two guards turned their attention back on him with condescending looks, the type you give a kid when he wants to be a part of the clearly adult conversation. Naruto gritted his teeth.

"The Chunin exam of course."

"Okay," Naruto let the word out slowly. "Now, try for detail?"

Izumo began to amend his partner. "It's going to be the biggest exam ever held, kid. All of the big five are going to participate. We even had a new arena built just for the occasion, talk about wasting money. Our old one was perfectly fit for the job. You get why we're a bit cranky right? We've been verifying over a hundred different shinobi passing through here today, two guys tried to weasel through. I'll never know why bandits think they can pass off as shinobi . . .

"Why are only you two stationed here? Seems illogical to me." Naruto pointed out.

"I don't know. We were over 30 shinobi here earlier today, as far as I know they're all on escort detail now, accompanying the Genin and their teachers. I hear each of the big villages got their own set of apartments, according to a friend of mine pretty girls handed out the keys like they were diplomas or something, sheesh."

"Oh, I see. Very clever."

Both Kotetsu and Izumo looked down at the kid in mild curiosity.

"What is?"

" _He_ is, the Hokage. Who in their right mind would attack this village right now? It wouldn't just be an attack on Konoha, but on all of the big five, who have all been taken in as honored guests going by your rumors. An unprovoked attack right now, just before this vastly important exam, won't be appreciated by anyone. Yes, it fits. No wonder the old man isn't bothering with more guards at the gate."

The two men shared looks again, this time with small frowns on their faces.

"What was your name again?"

"I didn't say. It's Naruto."

"Well, Naruto-san, you'll have to tell us your last name too, we're not letting you in otherwise."

"Yes, you are." Naruto told them in a chipper manner. "But another quick question first. Where should I go to find a place to stay with the village so full? Any ideas?"

Izumo looked at him in pure incredulity, Kotetsu seemed more amused than anything else. The latter spoke up after a short moment of silence had passed.

"Okay, Naruto-san, I give. Let's say you get past us and inside. I honestly don't know a good place to crash right now, if you haven't got the pockets for a hotel?" Kotetsu's eyes roamed over his clothes, which were expensive and new.

"Sure I do, but my stay will most likely be a lengthy one, and it seems wasteful."

Izumo looked between them like the two of them were both crazy.

"Can't argue with that logic, maybe you could try and see if there's an extra room where all the foreign shinobi are staying? It's cheaper than a hotel at least. Or you could try and find a place to rent if you're really going to stay for a while. But seriously kid, tell us who you are. We don't even know where you're from. Security is pretty tight due to the upcoming exams, we can't let people through when they won't even say who they are."

"That's okay, you'll make an exception for me." Naruto said evenly, before he pulled away the sleeve of his right arm in a practiced motion. The two guards had been wary the moment Naruto had moved to unveil something. They were surprised however, when they noticed parts of his arm was painted in black ink.

Tiny kanji had been masterfully etched into Naruto's skin, from his wrist and up to his elbow. All of the words and lines had been engraved into him with an efficient mindset, with the symbols spiraling around his arm in a sinewy and delicate pattern.

Kotetsu and Izumo both stared unabashedly at the strange sight.

Naruto paid no mind and carefully grabbed his own wrist. A slight stir of chakra could be felt by a very sensitive practitioner of the art. A small puff of smoke appeared, which Naruto expelled with a wave of his arm.

Without further ado, Naruto held out a folded document. Kotetsu took it hesitantly, but with a curious glint in his eyes. It seemed neither of them realized exactly what he had done, or maybe they just didn't know what to ask. Which was fine by him, he didn't feel like explaining it. A few lines were written over the thick and robust paper Naruto had handed them. The two Chunin stared at it in confused awe. The red seal proved the document's authenticity.

 _The bearer of this document is on an S-rank mission and has my authority to do as he sees fit._

 _Sarutobi Hiruzen – Hokage of Konoha_

"Can't be . . . That's impossible."

"How? Just _how?"_

Naruto gave them time to read the lines a few more times before he snapped back the document. He arched an eyebrow when they turned their flabbergasted faces to him. When neither of them said anything other than the same repeated gibberish, Naruto decided he'd spent enough time chatting for one night.

"Well, thanks for the nice reception, but I think I'll just move on inside. Don't go blabbering about any of this to anyone, the Sandaime won't like it if you do."

Slipping past Kotetsu and Izumo – whom were both looking at him with incredulous eyes – Naruto walked down the cobbled road leading deeper into Konoha. Looking at the various buildings, he wondered if there wasn't anything good to eat around, he was tired of eating his own sealed food.

 **~ The next morning – Konoha forest ~**

Naruto woke when he heard something drop to the ground a bit to the side of him. He didn't startle or react, although his body tensed visibly. His hands slipped into the sign of the dog under his sleeping bag – a sign affiliated with wind release. Naruto was about to throw the intruder away with a blast of air when said intruder spoke up with a familiar voice.

"What happened? Last I checked you preferred a good bed over a patch of grass." Jiraiya sounded chipper, an uncommon occurrence during any morning. Jiraiya was very much a night person.

"I just happened to enjoy the stars yesterday." Naruto wasn't much for mornings either. After searching for half an hour the previous day, he'd decided to forego the bed and roof altogether. He'd been too tired to care much either way.

"Aha, well, the old man wants to see you today, preferably in an hour. I imagine the two of you have a few things to talk about."

Yawning, Naruto sat up groggily. It was very early, looking up he could see a few rays of the sun squinting through the tree crowns above him. It was just after sunrise, he concluded. Jiraiya was standing over him, looking down at him from a gnarled tree root.

"I guess we do, should I worry?" He asked quietly, feeling sleep deprived.

"You can never tell with that guy, just remember that you always have a choice, kid. No matter what he's gonna ask, you can always say no."

Naruto wasn't too sure about that, but refrained from saying so. They had had that discussion before.

"So, you think he wants something from me?"

"That much is obvious, just remember you're your own person when you talk to him."

Standing up, Naruto stretched, he was still in the same clothes he had worn yesterday. They were rumpled after a night's sleep. Hunching down, Naruto quickly rolled up his sleeping bag.

"I'll get there, I just have a small detour in mind." Specifically, the hot springs. He wanted a bath. A standard for him after long journeys.

"Aha, I'll leave you to it then." He said amiably, before jumping of the root he'd been standing on. "If you need me, I'll be staying at _The Braying Mare._ It's in the red light district."

 _Of course it is._ Naruto knew better than to comment, however.

"I'll keep it in mind." He said to Jiraiya, who was already walking out of the small clearing.

"And don't hide out like this again, the old man had to ask _me_ to find you. I'm not anybody's servant, least of all yours."

Naruto gave a non-committal grunt that could have meant anything. A moment later and a slight pop was heard as Naruto sealed away his sleeping bag. The walk to the bathhouse and the following soak was spent introspectively. He had to wonder about the Hokage. Naruto wasn't sure how it would be like meeting the Sandaime again, but he doubted the man would treat him as a long lost son or nephew returning home.

Nor did he desire that. Naruto was a very different person compared to his former self. He had grown on his own merits, and had changed irrevocably as a result. He was grateful to the Sandaime, but he would not let that gratitude dictate any of his decisions when the time came to make a choice. He just hoped he would be allowed to make that choice himself.

Those thoughts and similar ones buzzed around in Naruto's head as he left the sauna. Now adequately clean and dressed in a new long sleeved shirt, this one a clear white with a faded pattern of blue teardrops and aquatic animals on it. His pants were an even darker blue, and he walked in a pair of comfortable black shoes – which was a bit more formal than the regular sandals. His hair was slightly damp, and had been finger combed into something that looked halfway stylish, halfway chaotic.

Back out on the streets, Naruto's thoughts continued to consume him. He hardly paid any attention to the people he passed or bumped into. Which was out of character for the usually observant boy. _What do I do if he poses an ultimatum? Denying him would yield consequences either way, but . . ._ Shaking his head slightly, Naruto abandoned his train of thoughts.

More likely than not, this would play out as a warm reunion of sorts at first. Surely the Sandaime would at least wait a few days before he sprung anything on him, good or bad. He was at the Hokage Tower anyways. Stepping inside the foyer, Naruto set out to find a receptionist. He had only taken a few steps before his name was called out.

"Naruto-san? That is you, correct?" Looking to his left, – outwardly calm, inwardly surprised – Naruto picked out a young female receptionist. He gave the woman a slight nod before moving towards her desk. There were other people in the room, a man in a dark cloak was sitting in a seat, clearly waiting. A couple of Chunin were walking down a set of stairs at the back of the foyer. Another receptionist was on the flipside of the open hall, apparently in a very serious and quiet conversation with a rather menacing kunoichi.

He was not in the wrong place. That was for sure.

"Did you have any instructions regarding me?" He asked the receptionist in front of him, a name plaque on her uniform read _'Hiroko'._

"The Hokage has been awaiting you, Naruto-san, you may enter the office." It was worded as an invitation, but she phrased it as if any other action was simply outrageous. Maybe it was.

"Would you be so kind as to show the way?" He asked politely.

"Naturally, follow me please." She rose from her seat behind the desk and walked to the back of the foyer, where the stair he had noticed earlier was. Naruto followed her up the stairs and took a glance at Hiroko's good proportions every now and then. He was Jiraiya's apprentice after all, he had not escaped unscathed.

"Here we are."

The door to one of the most powerful man in the elemental nations was surprisingly simple. Just a lacquered brown wooden door. He gave Hiroko his thanks, before he knocked. Two soft raps. After a moment, a voice was heard.

"Come in."

Tentatively, Naruto pushed open the door leading into the Hokage's office. Like the door, the room lacked any sort of indicator that this room was important. The room was moderate in size, and the walls were a simple brown color.

There was a number of white canvas hanging equidistantly around the room, a virtue was written in Kanji on each canvas. He noticed a shelf of pictures representing the previous Hokage's. The wall at the end of the room was made up of several large windows and a glass door leading out to a plateau overlooking the village.

The room was oddly humble for someone with the position of Hokage, the tobacco scent in the room only added weight to that observation. For some reason Naruto thought it oddly fitting.

Upon entering, he was treated to a sight of the famed professor of the shinobi, his arms crossed behind his back and watching the village from behind the large windows. To Naruto, he seemed like the man from the stories in that moment, dressed in an immaculate white robe, and with the traditional Hokage headwear.

Naruto closed the door behind him silently.

"I suppose a greeting is in order. It has been more than a few years since the last time we spoke after all. Welcome home, Naruto-kun." The elderly man spoke with clear and eloquent words, he did not turn away from his view of the village.

"You may speak freely, this conversation will not be overheard."

"Thank you." Naruto responded politely, although with a bit of uncertainty. This was indeed less the grandfatherly figure he had been used to as a child, and more the Hokage that ruled the village. It left him a bit unsure as to where he stood. Still, there was one thing he had to get off his chest.

"First of all, I'm very grateful for what you did for me. I realize it probably wasn't wholly for my benefit alone, but I'm still very grateful. I don't know if you've ever second-guessed the decision you made all those years ago, but you should know I'll always be glad things turned out the way they did."

The Sandaime Hokage turned his head a bit at that.

"You're not angry over the fact that you had to spend your early years in solitude and neglect?"

Naruto stiffened a bit. _We're not gonna skirt around this, it seems._ His reply however, was as level and calm as before.

"No, I'm not mad, precisely."

"But you _do_ feel a lingering resentment to the people here, correct?" The Hokage continued calmly, still observing the village outside.

"I don't know. I don't spend my time dwelling on the past." Naruto expalined. "However, I don't have a deep-set hatred for anyone here, if that's what you're asking. I think I can understand even. After the Kyuubi incident, people probably looked for someone to blame. They were scared, and I was an easy scapegoat. Maybe something could have been done differently, but it's pointless going over past mistakes. Besides, I've come to learn that Konoha isn't the only village that prejudices against demon containers. People do it all over the elemental nations, pretty much."

He had been many places with Jiraiya, take Sunagakure for instance. While he never got to meet their Jinchuriki, he became acquainted with a few characters. And, universal for everyone there, was the almost religious fear of one Sabakuu no Gaara. Naruto could put two and two together.

"Jinchuriki are . . . despised and feared almost universally, it seems to be one of the few things people can agree with, whether they're from Iwa or Kiri. To most people, we Jinchuriki are the demons we contain."

The Sandaime turned around fully, his eyes looking at him with sympathy. "And what would you do to correct this world-wide misconception?"

Naruto took himself time to think on the question and tried not to be distracted by the odd direction the conversation was going. He was being tested, that much he could ascertain, but in what manner?

"It's not that people are wrong to think of us Jinchuriki as dangerous. We are. With a Biju taking residence in you, your own state of mind depends on the seal keeping it locked up. Any of us could be really bad off for all I know, driven to madness by our demons. I don't mean to say we aren't dangerous. However, people are looking at the wrong reasons, a person doesn't lose his or hers humanity after being sealed with a Biju. When they terrorize and condemn us, they only make matters worse. We aren't the demons we keep at bay. We're the unlucky bastards who got stuck with a crappy job, but in the end we're just people too, and that's what everyone needs to understand."

"Indeed. Which brings us to the crux of the problem. How would you make it so people can come to your understanding?"

Hesitation.

"I don't know." The three words was difficult to squeeze out for Naruto. Hiruzen's face was serene, but his eyes were strangely intense.

". . ."

"I . . . At least, I don't think you can change a collective belief very easily, even if that belief is wrong . . . maybe if . . . You would need some kind of catalyst, to prove everyone wrong by showing them the actual reality of the issue. If you could get undeniable proof, and a means to show it to everyone, then maybe."

 _I don't see how anything like that could be possible though._

The Hokage had begun to stroke his chin in consideration of his words. "You impress me, Naruto-kun. That was very intriguing thoughts."

Naruto dipped his head in response and watched as the older man gingerly sat down in his padded chair.

"How did I do on your analysys then?"

A surprised look flew over the old man's face, before he broke out laughing. Naruto tried to suppress it, but a slight smile appeared anyway.

"Well now, you're as clever as Jiraiya said you were." The Hokage spoke after collecting himself. "Apologies, I am very aware I have been direct and impolite. I'll freely admit that I was testing you just now, but I was also genuinely curious about your answers. I don't think you lied. In my experience, men tend to lie a great deal more if under pressure."

"You pressured me just now?" To Naruto's dismay, the sentence came out as a question instead of a statement.

The Hokage gave a slight smile. "Lies also become far more transparent when they come from someone under pressure. You spoke the truth just now, the truth as you saw it, but the truth nonetheless."

"I see." And he did. Naruto was a few months shy of thirteen, but in some ways he was far older than that. He knew he was a clever lad, and when he was at his most composed he could talk people twice his age into walking in circles. Yet, here in this room he felt hopelessly out of depth. The sudden onslaught of strange questions from the Professor himself had left him disconcerted.

He had expected a few pleasantries exchanged, 'how have you been?', and such. Evidently not. The Hokage must have seen some of his thoughts in his expression, because his next words were eerily similar to his own thinking.

"I realize this is probably not how you envisioned this meeting."

"Not really, no."

Sarutobi nodded, before he gestured for Naruto to take a seat in front of the large mahogany desk. The Hokage started to dig around in the drawers for something.

"I hope I have not upset you too much, Naruto-kun. Right now, however, I would like to hear how you have been these past years. I heard a great deal from Jiraiya yesterday, but I would like to hear some things from your perspective as well." The Sandaime eased back into his seat, having found an old pipe which he quickly filled with tobacco.

Taking the offered seat, Naruto gave the Sandaime a questioning look.

"My perspective?"

"You have been gone for almost seven years, Naruto-kun. I'd like to know how it's been like. Tell me of your studies, Jiraiya tells me you are at a very advanced level in Fuuinjutsu for instance."

Nodding along to the request, Naruto began to talk about his life on the road with Jiraiya. It was odd at first, he had never told anyone very much about himself. Not any truthful things at least. Secrecy had been paramount to Jiraiya, and he had drilled the need for subtlety into Naruto early on. He had always kept his real identity hidden, so it felt strange to be truthful for a change.

From there their discussion spiraled into several different topics; where had he been and what was his impression of the elemental nations? How had his training with Jiraiya progressed? Sometimes they talked about non-consequential issues, but their topics usually swerved back to something purposeful again after a few minutes of idle chat. Over the conversation Naruto noticed how curious the Kage in front of him was about his personal thoughts and viewpoints.

Naruto never brought up what had happened five months ago in Otogakure, and although the Sandaime must have been briefed by Jiraiya, he didn't mention it either.

It took nearly an hour, but eventually, the Hokage seemed satisfied.

"I must say, this conversation has been a real pleasure. But I believe it's time we moved onto more important matters. There is a question I will have you answer for me. I want you to think hard on it, please be completely honest, Naruto-kun."

"I can do that." Naruto replied levelly and sat up straighter in the leather chair.

"Do you want to become a shinobi?"

" . . . What?" Naruto asked, baffled at the question. But the Hokage didn't repeat himself, he merely looked at him expectantly. Was he serious?

"What kind of question is that anyways, it's not like I have much choice."

"It might not look like that to you, but you do have a choice, Naruto. We always have."

"No," he replied in a level tone, he did not sound like a young boy in that instance. Becoming a shinobi had always been a matter of _when_ for Naruto. "I never had much of any choice, I was forced to become a shinobi the moment my father used me in his seal."

"That is where you are wrong, Naruto. No matter how inconceivable the idea may seem to you. I am fully prepared to have the ID papers of a young civilian boy written out, a child orphaned by the unfortunate incident almost thirteen years ago. A new name, a new home. It's something very possible considering no one here knows the real you. You would glide seamlessly into our society here, and none would be the wiser."

Surprising even himself, Naruto laughed.

"Oh, that's funny, then what have I been doing these past years? All that training for what – so I can defend myself? Be straight with me here." Naruto said, mildly annoyed by the deception.

"I _am_ being truthful, but you won't accept it. You leaving the village was a desperate move on my part, one I have paid fully in the years after your departure. Realistically speaking, by the end of the year I am not going to be the Hokage anymore."

Seeing the surprise spread over Naruto's face, the Sandaime smiled slightly.

"What? Did you think I could send our own Jinchuriki on his merry way without any repercussion? That is not the case, my enemies efforts in deposing me are finally catching up. This Chunin exam will in all likelihood be the last I will host."

The news had more of an impact on Naruto than he would like to admit. He might be disagreeing with the man at the moment, but he was still a person Naruto admired and looked up to. Maybe even more now, seeing how much getting him away from Konoha had cost. Before he managed to form some kind of reply, the Sandaime continued on undisturbed.

"Let's not get too sidetracked, you leaving Konoha was important in many ways. Mostly because the environment here was far too toxic for a young child, your solitude in particular, scared me. You were always alone, Naruto-kun. You undergoing training while away was more of a second thought than anything, and I certainly never imagined you to overshoot even Jiraiya's expectations. I've heard his opinions, and I'm more than merely impressed. Ultimately though, your well-being was my priority. Why do you think I had Jiraiya be the one to take care of you? You can be sure it was not because he was easily available, on the contrary, I had to undertake extreme measures in order to get him on board."

"My safety." Naruto supplied when it seemed like the old man wanted him to speak.

"Yes, but more importantly, I chose Jiraiya because you needed a fatherly figure. Someone to express warmth around you, which is why I ruled out any of my other subjects. Although many of them would have leapt at the chance to raise our former leader's son, I was never able to ascertain if they could give you more than just protection."

Naruto shook his head.

"That's all very good, but Jiraiya taught me more than just how to defend myself. Did he tell you we finished the entire academy curriculum in the first year away? And we didn't stop there, we just kept going, if anything we amped our pace. You can't pass that off as a 'second thought'. Don't even pretend that's not for a purpose."

Chuckling quietly, Hiruzen smiled in good humor. "I believe you are underestimating Jiraiya here, Naruto-kun. What I instructed, was to make sure you could graduate the Genin exam when you came back, in case you wanted to pursue a career as a shinobi. Needless to say, he went above and beyond that. From my understanding, he wants you to be the best you can be."

Naruto had no noticeable reaction to the old man's words.

"Years later, and here we are. Now, would you want to pursue a shinobi career?"

Conflicting emotions surfaced within Naruto. What did he truly want? Had he ever stopped to actually ponder on that question before? Naruto had never desired the blood-stained life of a shinobi, yet, he loved the Shinobi arts with a passion. How was he supposed to live his life as anything but the man he had trained so hard to become? Naruto's vibrant blue eyes dulled as he turned introspective.

In either case, he had doubts.

How could the Sandaime claim to protect him when his reign was about to end? There was just no way. Two months ago, Jiraiya had warned him about people trying to locate and abduct Jinchuriki. They were a secretive group with a sinister agenda, Naruto had been told to run if he ever saw black cloaks with red clouds.

With people like that out there looking for him, declining the Hokage here seemed woefully stupid.

"I do want to pursue a Shinobi career, yes."

The old ruler looked beyond pleased at that. Slowly, after shifting the pipe in his mouth around, the man gave him a nod. Naruto however, wasn't quite finished.

"I can't live the life you suggested at first, and trying to pretend I can is foolish. It's just not doable. Because of what is sealed inside me, I will never be left alone. Sooner or later I will be forced to fight. The difference in accepting reality is this; I will walk willingly into my fights, and I will walk out alive because I was _better_."

The Sandaime nodded. "In that case, there is only one thing for me to ask. How far are you willing to go?"

"As far as it takes."

The Sandaime nodded appreciatively. "Let me rephrase, what kind of shinobi will you be? A hunter-nin? ANBU? A Jonin sensei maybe? Do you have any aspirations?" The Hokage spoke with his usual calm assertiveness, but the way his hand tightened around his pipe made Naruto think the question was a loaded one.

"Never really considered that," Naruto lied carefully. "I didn't think I would have a formal position in your ranks. Always thought I would be more like a weapon, something to pull out from the scabbard when needed."

"You give me no credit." Despite the words, the Sandaime was smiling slightly. _He noticed how I didn't give a straight answer, not surprising._

"Very well, I think we have discussed enough for one day. Even so, I will have you return here early tomorrow, in order to run you through a number of tests. I want to gauge your abilities properly. I trust you have found a place to stay?"

"Sort of, something more permanent would be appreciated."

"Some of the participants of the exam receive housing free of charge. Another young man taking up residence would hardly attract much attention. Would you mind some neighbors?"

"I think I can manage." Naruto agreed, and he knew their meeting was over.

He rose from his chair in a swift motion, on his way out he couldn't help but throw a glance at the shelf he had eyed earlier. His eyes quickly found the picture of the man he was looking for. Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage of Konoha, reputed 'slayer' of the Kyuubi.

He'd never actually seen a picture of him. They really did look alike. Peeling his eyes away, he opened the simple door leading out of the office.

"Ah, fair warning, Naruto-kun. Now that I know your stance, I intend to have you compete in the exam. Be prepared."

Cocking his head to the side, Naruto gave a chill smile not at all fitting on a face so young: "Yeah, I kinda figured."

 **A/N There you have it. I feel okay with this piece. Although, there's a lot of dialogue and info-dumping I feel like I handled it well. It's very much unavoidable to not have these things after long time-skips. I tried my best to spice it up and make the dialogue interesting, but you'll have to judge on how well I did that. At least we're mostly up to date now, and we're going to rush into the meat of the story pretty fast.**

 **If Naruto feels a lot older than thirteen to you, there are many reasons for this, all of which will be explained as the story progresses.**

 **Did I surprise a lot of you by having Naruto return to Konoha just in time to participate in the Chunin exams? Going by your reviews, most of you seemed to think I would have him placed on a Genin squad first.**

 **The Exams will be original, with unique challenges and tasks. I'm really tired of all those generic fics with the exams being done nearly the same way every time. Can't wait to get into this!**

 **Anyways, have a good day, and I'll hopefully see some of you around for the next piece!**

 **The Epic Pen, signing off.**


	3. Meet the Neighbors

**A/N Hullo, back with another one! So, the original chapter just got** _ **too**_ **big, twice my usual 7000+ word size. Therefore, I split it up. This is the first chapter of a double post. Next part is probably going to be up a couple of days after this one.**

 **Two reviews expressed some doubt/worry about Naruto's serious personality. To that, I'm just going to say that, well, he's a bit more of a serious person. My Naruto is not constantly soaring cloud 9. That said, he was a bit on edge last chapter. He calms down noticeably in this one.**

 **It's not like my Naruto can't relax or laugh at his problems either, he simply hasn't been around anyone his age for the latter half of his life. He's a very mature person for his age. But these are things that I'll make clearer as time goes on. And please remember, Naruto's personality is not set in stone. I intend to have him go through some significant growth and change, although I admit we're still far away from that point.**

 **Other than that, Kosuke was also brought up in one review. Specifically, why did I make him so bland and boring? I actually put some thought into Kosuke, before I finally decided that in the end, he was an unimportant OC only there out of necessity for the plot. He was fill in for Naruto in team 7. I do have an idea with him in mind, and he features in this chapter, but he's not an integral piece of the plot. I made him seem generic to tell you guys: "look, he's gotta be here, but you don't have to take note of him, he will only be apart of the story in a very minor capacity."**

 **Anyways, with all of the critique and questions out of the way, let's get into this! On a final note, thank you guys for supporting me with your very nice and helpful reviews!**

 **On with the show!**

 **Legacy Ascending**

Meet The Neighbors

 **~ Noon – Konoha Hokage tower ~**

Naruto left the Hokage tower later that same day to see the sun hanging high in the sky. He'd been inside the building for several hours, and although the meeting with the Sandaime had been unorthodox and slightly intimidating, Naruto was still content with the results. It remained to be seen exactly _what_ the Hokage wanted from him. Having him participate in the Chunin exam was in all likelihood just the first move on Hiruzen's part.

Naruto couldn't help but wonder if the Sandaime had a specific reason for including him in the exams, maybe he wanted some of the competition eliminated? Not too much of a stretch of the imagination. Naruto hoped that was not the case.

First things first, however, he had to locate his new rooms. Hiroko, the receptionist from that morning had stopped Naruto on his way out to hand him a pair of identical keys to his new condo. Which, apparently, was somewhere on the outskirts of the residential district. The privileged big five got to share a large apartment complex, while the less recognized villages had to rent their own places.

Naruto was hardly familiar with Konoha, but he was used to finding his way around. His thoughts still lingered on the things he and the Sandaime had discussed as he wandered down the cobbled streets of Konoha. People passed him on all sides, some urgently, others without a care in the world. Naruto was aware of their proximity, but at the same time, he hardly took note of them. No one recognized him, not yet. Engrossed as he was in his own thoughts, it was a testament to his awareness that he noticed it.

A miniscule chakra flex, it vanished as quickly as it came. Naruto had barely felt it.

But he _had_ felt it.

That was odd, considering Naruto was not a particularly good sensor. In fact, he was awful. He knew the theory behind the skill well enough, but he simply didn't have the chakra system to be any good at the art. After experimenting with his teacher, Naruto had drawn a few conclusions. Firstly, he could only ever sense Jiraiya use moderately powerful techniques, anything below B-ranked was neigh on impossible for him to detect unless it had an unusually large chakra drain.

Secondly, his chakra sensing capabilities had a very limited range. If Jiraiya stood a good stone throw away, Naruto could only get a feel of Jiraiya if he used the most zapping techniques in his arsenal.

With that taken into consideration, Naruto was equal parts wary and curios to realize someone was channeling rather large amounts of chakra in the vicinity. His head swiveled around only to stare straight into one of the many wooden buildings that dotted Konoha. The source was either somewhere inside, or on the other side of the building.

Naruto's curiosity won out.

He walked up to the house and through some agile climbing; he was able to reach the rooftop without any chakra usage. Although good sensors were exceedingly rare, Naruto figured he had nothing to lose in being careful. He didn't want this mystery person to get the bead on him before he did, so he had to refrain from using any chakra in case he got noticed. He didn't expect a fight of course, but this was how he'd been trained to operate in unknown areas and situations, and this qualified.

Naruto decided to cloak his chakra presence before moving up ahead. Eliminating his presence was one of the few things that had taken a long time for Naruto to get a good grasp of, and it still made him uncomfortable when he used the trick. It even became painful if he kept using it over a long period of time. Shrinking your chakra presence was something Naruto likened to squeezing down on a foam ball with as much force as possible in order to make it smaller. His foam ball just happened to be ridiculously large, and it really didn't like staying small.

Hence the pain if he kept the technique going for more than a few minutes at a time. He would manage this just fine though, no sweat.

The curious boy took a few silent steps towards the edge of the roof and hunched down to take a good look.

 _Huh, interesting._

 **~ A few minutes earlier – Nearby ~**

"Kosuke, what are you doing here?" Haruno Sakura asked, slightly surprised to find her teammate standing in front of three kids who looked like they still belonged in the academy. Upon hearing his team's only female member, Kosuke turned around.

"Oh, hi Sakura. It's uh . . . These kids won't leave me alone, this small fry in particular." Kosuke nodded at the tallest of the three. A boy with dark hair clothed in a silly cape and hat. "He says . . . Well, he says he has to defeat me in order to become strong enough for the Hokage title."

"That's right! I have to defeat lots of people in order to get strong!" Yelled the young boy. "And since you refuse to, I'll _make_ you fight me!"

With that, the caped boy jumped at Kosuke, who was so surprised that he forgot to put up a guard. As a result, Kosuke got a hand smacked in his face. A set of small fingers snatched at his forehead protector, and actually managed to yank it of off him.

The kid jumped away hurriedly, before posing with the headband waving around. The small boy grinned victoriously at Kosuke before saying: "My name is Konohamaru, and I'll be Hokage someday you know!"

Staring at the boy incredulously, Kosuke became annoyed.

"Did you just take my forehead protector?"

"Ha, if you want it back, then you have to fight me for it!" Konohamaru grinned again, as if he'd already won their supposed fight. Then he turned on the spot and ran down an alleyway, his two friend's right at his heels.

"Wait up, Konohamaru-kun!" Moegi shouted.

"Yeah, wait up!" Udon added in.

Looking back at Sakura, Kosuke asked silently if that just happened. The pink haired girl had a hard time hiding her smile.

"Let's go after them, we can't have you get into trouble for losing your forehead protector so close to the exam." Sakura said, trying to act mature. Grateful, Kosuke followed her when she jogged after the three academy students. Luckily, they only had to cut a single corner to find them. Unluckily, the situation the two of them stepped into was not a good one.

"Let me go you big brute!" Yelled Konohamaru, still clinging tightly to the forehead protector even as he was dangling by the fabric of his cape. The offender was a boy over twice Konohamaru's size. Konohamaru's two friends stood at the side, looking on in fright.

"Brute? Says the pipsqueak rudely running into me." Said the large teen. For all Sakura and Kosuke could tell, he really was big and brutish. He wore black slacks, with a dark hooded cowl. To go with this imposing look, he had painted dark purple lines across his cheeks and beneath his eyes. Additionally, he had a large bandaged object strapped to his back as a backpack.

"Leave the kid be, Kankuro, we're not here to mess with snotty brats." Said a blonde haired girl who had been standing off to the side. She was pretty, Kosuke thought, with her hair done up in four buns at the back of her head. Although she had told her friend off, she was nonetheless eyeing Konohamaru with clear distaste.

Then the big guy, Kankuro, noticed the two Konoha Genin coming to a stop in front of them.

"Oi, don't you teach your kids any civility around here?" He questioned them in a gruff voice, now completely ignoring the struggling Konohamaru.

"We don't manhandle children when we think they did something wrong." Sakura said in a surprisingly quiet and level voice. Looking at her, Kankuro frowned.

"How else would you discipline them?" He asked condescendingly, but also with an undertone of genuine curiosity.

"You're here for the exam, right?" Kosuke asked. He had been scared to voice any immediate objection, but Sakura's clear stance had given him some courage. Looking at Kankuro's forehead protector, he realized it had the symbol of Suna engraved on it.

"I don't know how you do it out in the desert, but in Konoha, hurting a child is unacceptable."

As it turned out, that was the wrong thing to say. Kankuro's face suddenly darkened. Konohamaru quickly stopped all of his attempts to squirm out of the older boy's grip.

"Manhandling? Hurting a child? Please, I'm merely holding him by his silly cape. How do you constitute this to violence? If I wanted to be violent, he'd be far worse off." Slightly intimidated, both Kosuke and Sakura became quiet.

"Is this really how you raise them here? I thought Konoha was supposed to be one of the stronger villages out there, this is wholly disappointing."

"Just let him down, and we'll all go our separate ways." Kosuke tried to reason. He didn't want to admit it, but the big Suna boy scared him. Surprisingly, the blonde Kunoichi supported him, although in a very roundabout manner.

"Do as they say, Kankuro, we have to get to the apartments at any rate."

Looking over at his teammate, Kankuro considered that, he didn't want to anger his sister.

"But this could be good practice, Temari. Some insight into our competition won't hurt." At this, Kankuro directed a rather savage smile at Kosuke and Sakura. Then a sharp and sudden pain sprung up in his wrist, he dropped the kid and automatically clutched the pained arm to himself. Konohamaru then rolled and hobbled over to his two friends with surprising speed.

Both sides of the gathered crowd was surprised when a figure suddenly landed in-between them with trained poise. Uchiha Sasuke glared at the two foreign shinobi in front of him, he flipped a stone in the air and caught it smoothly.

"You know, if you want a fight, you should try to goad someone actually worth fighting."

"Thanks, Sasuke . . ." No one picked up Kosuke's dry comment.

"Hah," Kankuro laughed. "I hope you can do more than throw stones."

"You'll find out in a minute." Replied a confident Sasuke, who was already amped for a fight.

"Ugh, all this testosterone is making me nauseous." Said a disgruntled Temari, Sakura silently agreed.

"Indeed, sister. Our idiot sibling has a habit of diving into trouble head first." A quiet and coarse voice proclaimed. Sakura and Kosuke stared wide-eyed as a red haired boy appeared between his two teammates in a small whirlwind of sand. This new addition to the steadily growing crowd had a pair of dark ringed eyes that readily told you he would kill a puppy if it so much as looked at him wrong.

"Kankuro, seize with your nonsense, or die."

"Ah, yes, of course." The rapid turnaround in behavior left some of the Konoha residents slack-jawed. However, it was not just Kankuro. Temari had become pale, and was looking away from her red haired teammate determinedly. Somehow, Kosuke didn't think the Suna kid was making idle threats.

"Hmph, I'll get a chance to fight you during the exam, I suppose." Sasuke said, disappointed to see his opponent so meek all of a sudden.

"And you are?" Asked the newest arrival, his voice void of any emotion.

"Uchiha Sasuke. Who are you?"

"Sabakuu no Gaara. I will enjoy killing you, I think."

Taken aback, Sasuke considered his would-be-killer more closely. He didn't look very athletic or impressive, actually, the only concrete thing this Gaara had going for him was a sinister aura of sorts. The gourd on his back probably had some purpose, but Sasuke couldn't see how it could be of any use in a fight. He wagered he could take out this guy in a few moves or so.

Gaara snorted, but it was not out of amusement. "Whenever I threaten, it's always the same with you confident types. First, you get confused or angry, then you begin thinking, you start to consider whether I'm capable or not, eventually, you come to the inane conclusion that I'm bluffing, or that I'm simply overconfident. That pattern never fails. Please, indulge me. Mother is hungry."

It occurred to Sakura then, that this boy was actually not wholly _sane._ Suddenly afraid again, Sakura unconsciously positioned herself in front of Konohamaru and his two friends. Gaara gave her a cold look, "that's also a very frequent reaction." He noted disdainfully.

"I don't really buy it." Sasuke stated. "Give me your best attack, and we'll see if you have some actual prowess to back up all that talk."

A sudden quiet enveloped the assembled group. Sakura looked at Sasuke in worry even as she was cheering him on in her head, Kosuke for his part was annoyed that his teammate couldn't walk away from anything remotely resembling a fight. Both Kankuro and Temari quickly lost their initial shock at the bold declaration, they now looked at Sasuke as if he was already dead.

"Prowess? Does that even matter? What matters is that I have power, more so than you do, Uchiha Sasuke. Your idiotic challenge is accepted. You have only yourself to blame for your death, as you were the one to challenge me. Removing your existence will be gratifying."

"Tch, like I said, give me your worst." Despite the contemptuous reply, Sasuke was staring at Gaara with an unusual intensity. He was excited, Sakura realized with a slight exasperation. _Why do boys only think about fighting! Shannaro!_

Gaara raised his right arm and both siblings immediately moved several feet away from him.

"You guys back up a bit too." That was Sasuke. Sakura complied hurriedly and ushered the three academy students back down the cobbled street, Kosuke walked with them without taking his eyes of the two figures facing each other down. A small halo of sand was now swirling around Gaara and Sasuke stood ready to jump into action.

Suddenly, the lid on Gaara's gourd popped open and thick streams of sand slithered out with an alarming speed. Concerned, Sasuke jumped backwards when he saw the sand speed after his legs. This was not just some kind of earth manipulation, but something else entirely. _Does he have some kind of kekkei genkai?_

Then, the sand blurred _past_ Sasuke with a ridiculous speed before mauling him in the back with enough strength to propel him towards Gaara – and right into a large fist of sand who promptly closed itself around the young boy in a killer squeeze. The horrified spectators heard several groaning pops. Frowning slightly, Gaara released the death grip and was unsurprised to see the splintered remains of a thick log fall to the ground.

Sasuke appeared several meters away from Gaara and his deadly sand-made appendages, but not wholly unscathed – he had a clear limp and a grimace in place. Despite that, Sasuke seemed more focused on his enemy than his own wellbeing.

"You can freely manipulate sand?"

"Yes. Please die now." Was Gaara's cold response. The swirling sands began to coalesce into a hand twice as large as Sasuke, who quickly realized he had to dodge, and find some way to distract Gaara long enough to close their distance. He was confident he could end the cocky red head if he got in close.

Sasuke jumped away hurriedly, funneling chakra to his legs in order to amp his speed. He intentionally jumped early in order to dodge with a good margin, so Sasuke was astounded when he felt the air at his side buffet before the sand construct slammed into the spot he had just been standing in. Sakura gasped loudly at the near hit, while Kosuke paled as the seriousness of the duel in front of them really hit home.

"Hey, you." Kosuke poked Konohamaru, but not sharply. When he got the young boy's attention he told him in a very serious tone: "Take your friends and find someone, like a Jonin or a Chunin, anyone who can stop them."

Konohamaru, surprisingly, did not need any convincing and quickly took his friends by the neck before bolting away.

Meanwhile, Sasuke had been able to deduce two things.

One, the sand under the redhead's control was definitely a whole lot faster than he was.

Two, the bastard was really trying to kill him.

Gritting his teeth, Sasuke decided to go all out as well. A deep red color overtook his normally dark eyes, and a single black tomoe swirled into life in each eye. Acting quickly, Sasuke dashed to the side and dodged two sneaky tendrils of sand in the course of the action. When a wave of sand approached him from the direction he had been running in, Sasuke made a split-second decision to jump away.

Indecision got you killed. That was one of the few things he'd learned from sparring with Kakashi. It was important to make a move, and then commit to it. Any hesitance in the field would get you killed, eventually.

This time unfortunately, Sasuke's attempt to stay a step ahead of his opponent backfired. Gaara immediately struck with all of his appendages against the now airborne Uchiha. The raven-haired boy didn't have time to regret his earlier move, instead he spun around in the air and kicked down with his leg against the closest of the intercepting sand creations. Sasuke had hoped to use the kick as a way to launch himself away from the imminent danger; instead, his foot was absorbed into the sand. Effectively stuck.

Recognizing the danger he was in, Sasuke adeptly put his hands together in order to use another kawarimi. However, just as he was about to finish the last sign, a vein of sand grabbed his wrist away – which ended the Jutsu prematurely. Sasuke hit the ground roughly, before another two appendages enveloped his last free limbs. Slowly, they began to pull him down the cobbled street. Sasuke struggled violently with a panicky need to get free. It proved futile, and a very real fright began to well up in him, as Gaara dragged him towards an impending death.

"W-wait!" A shaken Sakura shouted out, and she took several shaking steps forward. "You won! What are you doing to him?!"

Sabakuu no Gaara looked up from his squirming prey, the gaze he gave Sakura was enough to make her stumble.

"Why do you care?" He asked in his gravelly voice.

"W-why? Why wouldn't we! He's our teammate! Our friend!" Sakura cried, she was very close to actual tears at this point. Kosuke quickly moved up to her side and nodded fervently to her words, too scared to voice his own thoughts. Both Kankuro and Temari stood several meters away and watched the proceedings stoically from the shadows of a tall brick wall.

Gaara's hard gaze did not soften as Sakura spoke. Instead, it intensified.

"How inane. Friendship? Are you willing to die for your friend, then? He challenged me, and as the victor, taking his life is not only my choice, but my **right**."

Dread welled up in Sakura as the cold words from the foreign boy hit her. "But why would you . . ." Sakura's next words died in her mouth when she saw sand swirl and coalesce into a sharp lance above Gaara.

The tip was aimed straight at Sasuke, who immediately paused his struggling to look up at the cone-shaped spear of sand with wide eyes. His single tomoe Sharingan saw no escape from this.

"N-no! No, don't do this!" Sakura screamed hysterically. She tried to run and position herself between Sasuke and Gaara, but Kosuke grabbed hold of her from behind to restrain her. She couldn't get out of his grip, much as she tried. Angry and desperate, Sakura gave the two Suna Genin in the background a harsh glare.

"And what are you two doing! Are you just going to stand there and watch him do this?!" Sakura shouted at them, all the while trying to kick and scratch her way out of Kosuke's grip. Sakura was surprised when the girl with the odd pig tail hairstyle took a hesitant step forth.

"O-oi, Gaara, don't you think you've made your point now? You won, you always do. You don't have to kill anyone. He's just a kid, he didn't know any better." Despite her own insecurity, Temari was doing her best to hold up a brave front.

"Be quiet, nee-san, or I'll kill you too." The sentence was said in the same cold and uncaring manner. Temari gasped inaudibly, and her eyes widened a fraction in surprise and fear. She took a step backwards and looked away. Kankuro put a hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged it off.

Sakura was shocked at Gaara's casual threat to his teammate - and, apparently, his own sister. _He's evil._ She concluded, and surprisingly, that knowledge calmed her somewhat. At least she understood Gaara's bloodlust now. _There's no reason for this, we didn't fault him somehow. He's just insane._

"Well then, it's time you died, Uchiha Sasuke. She's getting impatient."

"No! Wait!" Sasuke shouted from his incapacitated position. "I have to do something, you can't kill me yet! There is something that I _have_ to accomplish!"

Gaara ignored him. A slight wave of his pointer finger had the hovering lance of sand launch forward in a burst of speed. Sakura screamed, and Sasuke watched the spear approach with an odd feeling of detachment.

 _Really? Is this it?_ Was his exact thoughts right then.

It happened in the span of a second. A figure appeared in the projectile's path and struck out with an open palm. Everyone became dumbstruck when a loud shockwave of air ripped the spear's composition apart. Tiny grains of sand scattered around by the resulting gusts of wind. Everyone stared unabashedly at the unknown savior.

He was blonde, and stood a few centimeters taller than Gaara. Whom he was considering with a pair of clear blue eyes. His attire was surprisingly rather casual. A white long sleeved shirt with some obscure patterns, dark blue pants and a pair of black laced shoes. His hair was a spiky mess that somehow fit him very well, but the bangs that fell just short off his eyes hinted at a deliberate hand at work.

Sabakuu no Temari frowned and sharpened her gaze at the powerful display of wind manipulation. _That was no jutsu . . . he somehow created that much pressure through only raw nature manipulation?_ Back in Suna, the pig-tailed girl experienced a certain level of fame due to her unusually good grasp of the wind-release. Many considered her a prodigy at the art, which was why she was known by the title of 'wind mistress' in Suna.

Because of those talents, she could analyze and appreciate the blonde boy's skills far more thoroughly than anyone else present. What stumped her was the way he had done it. With no hand signs, with no specified Jutsu in mind at all, just raw wind chakra expelled forcefully from his hand. She was impressed of course, she could only do minor things with her wind chakra unless she used signs or her battle fan – like putting out a candlelight. But the question in her remained, _how_?

The boy's method was very cumbersome in the way that it was so chakra intensive, and ridiculously difficult. She had no idea how much training he had gone through in order to reach such a high wind affinity. He wasn't even all that old, he looked somewhere around her own age.

Despite the impossibility of it, Temari really wanted to learn how to do it. To have the wind beckoning at your fingertips seemed so wonderfully useful and liberating. She was brought out of her own mind when her violent sibling came to himself.

"Just what," Gaara spoke up menacingly. "Do you think you are doing?"

"I'm opposed to indiscriminate killing, that's all." Was the quick and level reply. _And,_ Naruto added in his own mind. _Having the last Uchiha heir murdered on the streets by our supposed ally nation would create enormous tension, if not outright war._

"Another naïve fool with illusions of friendship and chivalry?" Gaara asked the new contender.

"I suppose, but I'm afraid my morals are a slight touch pragmatic." Naruto answered politely. His pleasant attitude seemed to flummox Gaara somewhat.

"Just who are you anyway?"

"Just a passerby for now. But you can call me Naruto, if you want."

A slight frown appeared on Gaara's face, he was confused now. This Naruto was strange.

"One moment, I'm just gonna cut this guy loose."

 _Huh?_ Gaara stared, as his opponent turned around and bent down in front of the held down Sasuke.

Wait, his opponent . . . turned his back to him?

 _What?_

Naruto molded some wind-natured chakra to cut away Gaara's sand-made limbs from Sasuke's form. Kosuke openly gaped at the sheer indifference the blonde-haired person displayed, and Sakura was not far from emulating him. Both Kankuro and Temari simply stared unblinkingly at the blonde, baffled at the complete lack of wariness.

As Naruto removed the last restraint, he gave Sasuke a look that clearly said ' _get up'._ The last Uzumaki then rose up to face Gaara, who had been too dumbstruck to even consider attacking while Naruto had exposed his back.

"Are either of you going to insist on fighting anymore?" Naruto asked the two boys.

Sasuke, who had just gotten back on his feet, eyed Gaara with tight-set eyes. "He tried to kill me just now, I can't let that slide."

"Remove yourself." Gaara glared at Naruto. "I will kill you afterwards."

Sakura was about to interject several words of her own, but she swallowed them when Naruto spoke up loudly.

"Uchiha Sasuke, Konoha's last living member of the famed Sharingan wielding clan. Sabakuu no Gaara, son of the Yondaime Kazekage. Quick question, are either of you aware of the _consequences_ this little spat of yours could have?"

Both boys stilled slightly, and they turned to look at him.

"Why should I care?" Gaara asked uncaringly. Naruto didn't miss a beat at the cold and unconcerned voice.

"Well, in the event that you kill Sasuke, how do you think the Kazekage will try to appease Konoha? In the most likely scenario, the Kazekage will just hand you over to the top brass here in order to stave off war. I hear he's not exactly very fond of his youngest son."

Gaara showed no outward sign to Naruto's words, save for a slight crease that appeared between his eyes.

"Even so, why do you care? This is none of your business."

A slight pause. Naruto's next words, while not cold, were considerably chiller in comparison to his earlier tone.

"I should allow you to kill to your heart's content, then?" The question had a dangerous undertone to it. "After all, you won't stop with just Sasuke." _Once the Chunin exam begins, there's going to be a whole lot of bodies piling up unless I find a way to stop Gaara._ Naruto realized.

Meanwhile, Gaara nearly sighed in relief as the blonde haired curiosity finally gave a response that Gaara could understand. Hostility. Which in turn spurned a wonderful thought in him. He might not be able to kill the Uchiha yet, but this Naruto was fair game, right?

And if he wasn't . . . So be it, Mother's hunger was getting unmanageable.

Naruto shook his head when none of his words seemed to make any impact on the boy he could recognize as the Suna Jinchuriki. "Arguing here isn't going to do anything. If you must, then finish your quarrel during the exam."

Sasuke looked reluctant to back down, which seemed like pure idiocy if you asked Naruto. "You owe me a debt, Uchiha-san, at least back down when I tell you to." Naruto pointed out when the dark haired boy continued to stare at Gaara with intense eyes.

The Uchiha did as he was told when that unpleasant fact was made apparent to him. _Ugh, as long as he doesn't demand anything too ridiculous, I guess I can manage. He_ did _save my life, after all._

Meanwhile, Gaara prepared to lash out at Naruto's distracted form, but it was not to be.

"What's happening here?" A pair of Chunin appeared some way down the street. "We've got a witness report saying a fight was taking place here, a life and death scenario."

Naruto stepped forward with a practiced walk and gave the two non-descript shinobi a confused smile. "Life and death? Really? Well, no harm done here. Just a bit of pre-exam nerves getting out."

The two stopped and shared a suspicious look. "Is that so?"

"It is. What did you hear anyways? Wait, don't tell me it was the three academy students? They _did_ seem a bit scared by some of the jutsu we practiced." Naruto's question devolved into a series of mutterings, which the two Chunin caught easily.

Their eyes scoured the street and the face of every person there thoroughly, before both left with a last parting comment to practice elsewhere.

Naruto received a few looks again.

"What?" He asked, slightly affronted. "A shinobi has to be able to lie convincingly, that's one of the first things we're taught, right?"

A small scoff came from Sasuke, who was eyeing Naruto with both gratitude and annoyance at the same time. "Find me when you want your favor cashed in." He said simply, before he turned around to leave.

"I suggest you two follow him." Naruto told the two Konoha Genin. They followed his advice quickly. The pink haired girl even thanked him for saving her teammate, which was an appreciated gesture. Pink girl +1.

With that out of the way, He turned towards the Suna Genin, whom were already receding away. Naruto quickly walked up to them.

"Well, let's get going. I for one want to leave this street." He spoke up from behind the three.

"You're not coming with us. . ?" Temari had initially spoken up to deny him. However, once Naruto swiveled his cerulean blue eyes at her, the statement turned into something more along the lines of a question.

"Yes, I am." Naruto proclaimed confidently. "And Gaara, if you're planning to kill me. Quit it."

Gaara looked at Naruto in surprise, while his siblings glanced betwixt the two of them warily. _He felt my bloodlust earlier._ Gaara guessed.

"I will wait until the exam." The read head lied effortlessly. He was also a good liar, mostly because he had no moral dilemma in doing so whatsoever.

"Good, because, truth be told, I have an ulterior motive in wanting to go with you."

The three Suna shinobi straightened, intrigued as to what this mysterious and quirky Genin could have as a motive to go with them. They couldn't imagine his intensions.

"You see, I need to find these apartments everyone's talking about."

Two sets of blinking eyes and a dead stare was the response to that. Kankuro was the first to vocalize his surprise.

"You're joking, right?"

xXx

"Ah, so this is the place. Not too shabby." Naruto and the three Suna siblings stood in front of a three-story apartment complex. It was brand new, and it showed in the gleaming glass paneled walls.

Whereas most of Konoha's buildings were simple in nature and usually built with wood, the block almost looked a bit out of place with its metallic sheen and glass panels. The discrepancy wasn't too noticeable however, since the building was placed very remotely on the outskirts of the village.

"Mhm, how come no one told you about it? You have a team leader, right? He should have briefed you." Temari asked curiously. Her brothers walked at her side in silence.

"I'm a bit of a special case in that regard." Naruto responded carefully, fully aware of how unsatisfactory that answer was. He was pleased that the girl had taken to ask a few questions though. She and Kankuro had both acted very meek during the admittedly short walk to the apartments. Gaara seemed to have that effect on them. Honestly, the three of them were more dysfunctional than a drunk Jiraiya surrounded by pretty girls.

Well, maybe not that bad.

"Where's your room, then?" Naruto asked. He really _did_ want to know where the three stayed, but he also wanted to divert some attention away from himself. Years of hiding in plain sight had made Naruto a closed off person. Secrecy was as much a habit as it was a precaution for Naruto.

"Up the stairs." Temari answered after having taken a quick peek at Gaara first. She then pointed towards a set of stairs that led to the second story of the building.

"It's the door farthest down the corridor."

The foursome ascended the stairs together, but Naruto stopped when he came to a door with a big _9_ affixed to the wall. The others stopped when they noticed Naruto's sudden halt. Gaara frowned in annoyance at the delay while Temari and Kankuro looked at him in curiosity.

Naruto paid them no mind. He had a hunch. A nimble hand quickly dug up the key ring he had been given earlier that day. A set of identical keys hung from the chain, but also attached was a round, blank coin. He flipped it around and was pleased to see the number 9 on it.

Naruto couldn't help but to give a small snort, mildly amused.

The old man was probably having a laugh right about now.

 _Number nine? Really?_

He turned to the others, who were looking at him in polite confusion. Save for Gaara, who was now standing outside number 7, two doors away. The Suna Jinchuriki was glaring at him.

"Found my flat." Naruto declared with a notably more forceful smile. "Looks like we'll be pretty close neighbors."

Gaara's oppressive stare did not lessen in the slightest.

 _That confirms it. My new and psychotic neighbor wants to murder me. Great._

He coughed slightly and opened his door. "So, I guess I'll be seeing you guys around then?" He asked in an attempt at politeness.

Kankuro gave him a stiff nod, and Temari forced a smile. Naruto walked into his apartment with a small wave at the three.

 _Ugh, awkward._

Naruto leaned into the door behind him, decidedly relieved to be away from Sabakuu no Gaara. The Ichibi Jinchuriki was even worse off than he'd already assumed. The fact irked a nerve in him; were there no decent Fuuinjutsu specialists in Suna?

 _Argh! In any case,_ _I have to find a way to get a good look at his seal. It could be faulty or deteriorating for all I know._ He would have to be quick about it too, something about the rings under Gaara's eyes told him the boy could literarily snap and lose it any passing day. The real question however, was why did Suna send a clearly unstable Jinchuriki to the exams? Konoha and Suna were _allies_. It made no sense.

Naruto shook his thoughts away and instead appraised his new quarters. The place was going to be his base of operations for the foreseeable future, it was only prudent to take a tour.

He took off his footwear in the small hallway and put them on a nearby footrest before he strolled into the living room. A nice three seater-couch was pushed into the farthermost corner, and an oak table was in front of it. A TV faced the seating arrangements, ready to be turned on by the controller on the table.

The kitchen was fully equipped to make a good set of meals, and the means to serve them. The four bedrooms – necessary to house an entire Genin squad and their team leader – were compact and cozy, with a view over the truly massive forest Konoha kept mostly untouched. Inside the bathroom laid the expected necessities, and not much more. What impressed Naruto was the study he found. The mahogany desk and the comfortable armchair were of a luxurious quality, and they would come in handy during long nights of studying and experimenting.

After fully exploring the apartment, he decided to get a bit settled in. He pulled up his sleeves to unseal some of the equipment and belongings he always had on him when travelling. Naruto held up his tattooed right arm and smiled a bit as his Fuuinjutsu utensils appeared on the living room table in a small smoke cloud. Naruto had originally gotten the concept idea after Jiraiya had explained the theory behind how the eight trigrams seal worked. The seal that kept the Kyuubi locked away inside of him.

If you could seal a Biju into a person, shouldn't it be possible to seal things into them as well? Spurred on by the thought, Naruto had begun experimenting on his own. In principle, it had seemed like an easy conversion, although it struck him as odd that none of his books even mentioned the concept. Not even Jiraiya knew of a Fuuinjutsu scheme that could do what Naruto wanted. It turned out to be anything but easy. He spent months working on that project before he finally ended up in the right ballpark. As it turned out, Naruto had been wrong to assume that you could seal objects into people the same way you would seal a Biju.

The eight trigrams seal on his belly was a masterpiece, yet it had no physical anchor. In fact, his late father's seal only _appeared_ whenever he used chakra. That was part of its purpose; its function was to keep an amalgamation of chakra sealed away, and the Uzumaki clan had realized that designing a physical seal was unnecessary.

Through their genius, they had made a seal that didn't rely on any physical limitations. If he smudged a line in one of his exploding tags, it quite simply wouldn't work. The eight trigrams seal didn't _have_ any lines to smudge, heck even if he got stabbed in the gut it would still work. The seal operated purely on chakra, and Naruto had been foolish to use the same application in his attempts to seal _physical objects_ into a person.

After coming to this realization, he began experimenting with refueled vigor. Eventually he came up with a prototype. The present day result was an outcome after many sleepless nights tinkering over the finer technicalities of the seal.

Put simply, Naruto could seal stuff into himself. Plural. One object per spiral, and he had six twisting spirals corkscrewing up his right arm. At least at the moment, fortunately he still had a bit of arm left to go. The choice to outline the seal the way he did had seemed natural to Naruto, simply because it conserved a lot of space. Jiraiya had praised him for the design; it was one of the few seals ever made to work on something else other than a completely flat surface. Jiraiya called it a "spherical design," and told Naruto that he had only seen something similar a handful of times before.

The final effect looked surprisingly good. Each of the symbols etched into his arm were tiny, but Jiraiya – once he had explained the theory and gotten the man on board – had drawn them masterfully. How the symbols sometimes seemed to dance across his arm fascinated Naruto. A trick of the light, of course, but it still caught his eye every time it happened.

The blonde sat down and channeled some more chakra into one of the seals, and a dark grey combat attire flopped onto the floor. The custom-made outfit had a small hip compartment with some basic Fuuinjutsu equipment, and the traditional shinobi pouch stored with projectiles was attached to the right pant leg. The cloth was lightweight and gave Naruto some flexibility, although it did little in the way of protecting him. The outfit also had numerous pockets, which Naruto had found to be very handy in the field.

He unsealed another spiral, and a tanto appeared in his hand. He held it up, and the small chakra conductive knife shone in the light with a menacing gleam. He vividly remembered his first and only kill. A single sweep of the tanto – its sharpness amplified several times with his wind chakra – had done the job. The kill had been instant.

Even so, it had felt off somehow. Not wrong, but not right either.

Despite having already become a competent shinobi in his own right, Naruto wasn't sure how he was supposed to react to killing. He felt no guilt or sadness when he thought about how the man had bled out in front of him. But there had been something to it, something he couldn't quite put his finger on.

Naruto hated the topic of killing, despite it being such a big part of his work. It was a necessary act from time to time, but he disliked to think about who got to decide when and where. Killing was a moral minefield, impossible to navigate, and Naruto probably hated that more than the actual killing.

There was never a clear answer, and that was what irked him about it.

Naruto sighed and looked at the time, it was late afternoon.

He had to be ready for whatever test the Sandaime had in mind. He unsealed another spiral and a custom made wakizashi sprung into his hand.

Tomorrow was going to be an exciting day.

 **A/N So what do you think? Next part is ready for release, and it will be up in a few day's time. Next one will finally give you guys a good idea of how capable Naruto is. Four new and varyingly important characters are also introduced in the next piece, so stick around!**

 **Other than that, I wish you guys the best! Leave a review if you enjoyed this or if there was something you feel I could have done better!**

 **The Epic Pen, signing off.**


	4. Emergence of Talents

**A/N Heya folks! Another chapter is up! Uhm, sorry about the weeklong delay. I decided to add some stuff, and it got out of hand. Hopefully, the chapter is** _ **good.**_

 **To a helpful reviewer who commented about a mistake I made with Gaara's seal, thank you! For some reason I remembered that part of his character completely wrong. It's now been corrected.**

 **Some have asked about pairings. Will this be a Harem? Is Hinata going to be best girl or not? Can I please add Sakura? Or - don't add Sakura or Hinata. These and many more. And well, romance is actually a far ways off. There will be small flirts and probably more than a few one-sided crushes in the coming chapters. But I actually haven't decided if I should just do one serious pairing or have multiple girls - a harem. I might make a poll at some point to settle that.**

 **This is more of an action and adventure type of story in either case. Although pairings will happen eventaully.**

 **Anyways, I would like to thank everybody for the great response this story is getting. Thank you for all the help and motivation!**

 **Now! Read!**

 **Legacy Ascending**

Emergence of Talents

When Naruto arrived at the Hokage office the next morning in his shinobi attire, he wasn't too surprised to be taken away for a walk. Apparently, the Sandaime had a particular location in mind for the day. The fact that the entrance to this place was in the backroom of a little known shinobi-only bar was fitting, he supposed. Not to mention secretive.

"This looks very shady." Naruto pointed out as he and the village leader descended flights of worn stairs.

"Because it _is_ shady." Hiruzen replied evenly. They were alone, and he knew it was no use keeping Naruto in the dark. He would find out eventually.

"Oh, how come? Naruto questioned, interest piqued.

"You will not find these facilities in any records, Naruto, they do not exist on paper." Naruto would have normally commented here, but he realized the Hokage was not done explaining.

"A rather powerful and secret faction of Konoha's spy network works here, led by my former teammate, Danzo Shimura. When I say _Konoha's_ spy network I am being literal, they do not answer to me, but to Danzo. He is the leader of Root."

"Root?" Naruto repeated quizzically. The stairs down did not stop.

"Their name, it's symbolic supposedly. The proud trunk that supports the leaves of Konoha is the Shinobi corps. Root however-"

"Lies in the shadow of the tree." Naruto finished.

"Very good." The Sandaime smiled encouragingly. "Danzo thinks my rule is 'too soft', on occasion he takes matters into his own hand. He has always tried to keep Root hidden from me. I only discovered its existence a trifle few years ago. And it's only a few months ago that I was able to establish a working relationship with Danzo again."

"Working relationship? Isn't what he does down here high treason?"

"In almost every aspect, yes. I can tell you right now that he also practices several unsavory policies down here. However, I do not have the political ammunition to take down Danzo. For some reason it seems like he has every influential and important person in his pocket just when he needs them the most. An odd thing to say, I know, but it is still the truth. Besides, he has his uses." The Hokage robes continued to swish against the hard stairs as they descended the last few steps. They walked ahead into a dimly lit corridor. Two black clothed figures appeared behind them; both armed with an uchigatana. It was impressive to Naruto, but the Hokage appeared unbothered.

"So, instead you made some sort of truce with him?" Naruto tried to get back to the conversation.

"In a way. We have an understanding, and we can agree on certain things. He quickly consented when I asked for an out of the way training facility – on the condition that he could participate." The Sandaime gave Naruto a concerned look.

"He knows about you unfortunately, so there is no point in trying to conceal you."

Naruto only shrugged, and followed Hiruzen when they took a right turn. The Root personnel remained in their shadows. Naruto however, was concerned about something else. "What . . . exactly will you have me do today?"

"Hmm, well. Physical tests, a full rundown of your Taijutsu, some theory, a few combat scenarios. Your ninjutsu will also be scrutinized, as well as your chakra control and elemental manipulation."

"Okay." Naruto responded stiltedly. _Seems complicated._

"You will also be given a few mental exercises to practice, not to mention some theoretical tests. I need to know how much _you_ know. In any case, expect to be exhausted when we leave."

Naruto dipped his head one last time. He liked structure, so just hearing what he'd be doing for the day was a comfort. _Although_ , _I can't say I like the thought of having this Danzo figure observing me._

"I take it we won't be alone during all of this, other than this Danzo?"

"Goodness no, we will have some assistants of mine helping us. Highly overqualified assistants, but assistants nonetheless . . . Oh, it seems we have arrived."

Three men stood waiting outside a door a bit further down a new bend in the corridor. Naruto eyed them levelly, but was careful in taking note of their equipment and postures. He was surprised when Hiruzen reacted to one of the men's presence with mirth.

"Kakashi! This must be the first time in years I have seen you arrive early for anything other than an ANBU assignment."

"Mah, I was just lucky on the road of life today I suppose." The man named Kakashi responded. Naruto thought there was something familiar about the name. Where had he heard it? Other than the very standard flak jacket and shinobi equipment, Kakashi also wore a facemask and used his forehead protector to cover up his left eye. His entire posture was one of absolute nonchalance; the only part of him that seemed ready and aware was his right eye. Which was looking straight at Naruto.

"Hmmph, you still tell your students that old excuse?" The Sandaime asked as the two of them came to a stop in front of the three. Kakashi shrugged noncommittally.

The two other men there were also very clearly shinobi. The dark haired man farthest to the left used a cane to support himself, oddly enough, he also had his forehead and an eye wrapped in bandages. _Did everyone lose their eyes down here?_ The last man wore an ANBU uniform and their characteristic porcelain masks. Naruto couldn't quite decide which animal the mask was trying to represent. The atmosphere seemed tense; he wondered if there was any history between the men. The Sandaime coughed to get everyone's attention.

"Well then, this is Uzumaki Naruto, Naruto-kun, I would like you to meet Hatake Kakashi, Shimura Danzo, and the ANBU member here is Tenzo."

Naruto dipped his head curtly. "Pleased to meet you."

"The pleasure is ours, young Naruto-kun." The bandaged man, Danzo spoke. "Shall we go inside and begin?" Danzo's question was directed at the Sandaime. Naruto wondered quietly at how fake the subservience was. He could have sworn he saw a wink from somewhere in the dark sockets of the one with the ANBU mask.

"Yes, let's not tarry here."

Multiple spotlights lit up upon their entrance, illuminating a very large and rectangular room. Most of it was naked, with lots of room to maneuver in. There was however, in the top left corner a small and elevated platform with tables and seating arrangements. Blank reports, scrolls, and books littered the tables. Naruto's attention was drawn to the floor and walls, however. It seemed an odd choice to have the floor consist of large black stone tiles. Even the walls had the same makeup.

 _In any case, all the tests will be done in this room_. That meant there was no bodies of water to use, no earth to manipulate, and most importantly to him. No natural wind to fan. At least the same applied to his opponent.

The group of five motioned further into the room behind Hiruzen. For a few heavy seconds there was complete silence, not even their footsteps gave sound. Naruto honestly thought the situation was more than a bit abnormal at this point. He felt very much like he was in the thick of it. Perhaps not so strange, with an ANBU and a Jonin walking silently at his sides, and two old lions both pretending to be docile walking at the front. He was way out of his league, but there was nothing to do be done about that. He had felt out of his depth ever since he arrived in the Sandaime's office yesterday.

This was just the state of things now it seemed, and he had to adapt. Danzo was the first to speak again.

"This room took years to make, it may not look much at first, but a great deal of work and time has gone into making-"

Frowning at those words, Naruto unceremoniously kneeled down to touch the curious stone floor. _This texture. It's oddly familiar._ There was a faint, almost magnetic pull on his chakra coils. Now very bemused, Naruto allowed some of his chakra to exit the tenketsu point in his hands. Only to _feel_ the chakra evaporate. It was simply gone. _Hmm, it's not just chakra conductive. There's something else to this._

Danzo paused in his explanation to look back at Naruto, who was still crouching by the floor. "What?"

 _Oh, did I say that aloud?_

"The floor." Naruto murmured. "You've mixed some chakra conductive metal into the floor surface – and the walls too I would guess. The only reason you would do that is if you wanted it to react to chakra in some way. This place must've cost a fortune." Naruto rose to his feet, and took some satisfaction from their faces.

"My guess is that you've used Fuuinjutsu in conjunction with the conductive metals to somehow create a surface area which is chakra absorbent. It's probably chakra resistant too. It's very impressive, in either case."

To Naruto's disappointment, Danzo didn't lose any outward composure at having the secrets of the room so easily revealed. Yet, Naruto was surprised when he heard an amused snort at his right side. Everyone turned to look; Kakashi's excuse of a runny nose was even more ridiculous than the actual slight. Danzo appeared as if it was all beneath him.

"Color me impressed already Naruto-kun, right on all accounts. I take it you've come across chakra conductive weapons or objects before then?"

"Yes." Naruto replied uninformatively. His very own tanto was chakra conductive. He only barely stopped himself from touching his tattoos. He would reveal that when he felt like it, and not before. They unanimously began walking again.

"I don't see any seals though, where do they come in?" Tenzo questioned quietly.

"Maybe young Naruto-kun knows the answer to that too?"

"I figure they're on the flip side of the tiles, in other words, beneath us."

"Correct again." Danzo hummed.

"So, what will we do for starters?" Naruto was keen to get the entire thing over and done with. Danzo's unflappable attitude made him uncomfortable.

"I believe I told you what I had in mind earlier?" Hiruzen's calm voice made itself known again.

"Yes, and truth be told, this appears overly comprehensive to me."

"I want more than just estimates, Naruto. I want a full rundown, and an accurate one at that."

"Seems unnecessary no matter how I look at it. I doubt you put any of my peers through a process like this for their Genin exams. You'll see my abilities first hand during the exams anyway. Why the rush?" It was a slight struggle for Naruto to keep his voice neutral at the end of his tirade.

"This kind of disobedience is what you get when you send a man like Jiraiya to tutor an impressionable child." Danzo cut in distastefully. Naruto froze for a moment, surprised at the blatant disrespect to his master.

"Be quiet, Danz-" Hiruzen began, but Naruto overrode him.

"You don't know anything about my master. He would _die_ for this village. Don't talk like you can understand him." Maybe the words put Danzo off-balance. Perhaps it was the ice-cold tone, or the absolute faith Naruto displayed in his teacher. Whatever the case, Danzo stilled and did not retort. Naruto let it be with that. The group had come to a stop by the two tables, the Sandaime eyed Naruto approvingly.

"The way I see it, you have earned a few straightforward answers."

Naruto blinked. The Hokage continued unbothered. "I would like to point out that comparing you to your peers is pointless because you are far more advanced, how much advanced is what I would like to find out today. A single day of reviewing your skills is not nearly that much when you consider the fact that we have _years_ of isolated training to peruse. Lastly, and this I can say with my full conviction; This _is_ necessary."

"Why-"

"Let me finish, Naruto. Yesterday I told you, you would compete in the exams. I never told you in what capacity."

"Ugh, I was afraid of this."

A half-smile appeared on Hiruzen's face. "I will be blunt then. I want your cooperation in countering an invasion orchestrated to take place sometime during the Chunin exam, among other tasks."

A long silence enveloped the small group, and Naruto felt scrutinizing looks from all sides. Everyone was waiting for a reaction, but Naruto remained stoic. Inside his head, his mind was awhirl. A full-scale invasion and a possible war in the woodwork was not what he expected. This was far bigger than he had imagined, and somehow he was getting hauled into it by a pair of self-righteous old men.

The real question, however . . .

"What exactly do you want me to do?" The short and clipped question came out tiredly.

"We've already given you more information than we should have, don't press your luck." Danzo said stonily. He had taken a seat in a red and comfy armchair by the end of the closest table, he idly picked up some of the sheets on the table. They looked like empty reports from where Naruto was standing. The Sandaime followed Danzo's lead and sat down. He took out his pipe and began stuffing it calmly, completely unbothered. He only spoke up when Naruto sat down. Kakashi and Tenzo both remained standing.

"We just want to do some tests, for now. When we have an accurate measurement of your abilities, we'll decide on what kind of assignment you're suited for."

 _We . . ?_ Naruto was rapidly starting to understand that Danzo and Hiruzen intended to combine their forces to fight of the invasion. _Peace through a common enemy, ey?_ _Make sure not to get backstabbed, old man._

What seemed obvious was that they both wanted to use him. Although he assumed in very different ways.

" . . . I'm not really keen on killing Genin, if that's what you have in mind." Naruto finally replied. _Gaara will be doing enough of that on his own._

Kakashi and Tenzo both glanced at him quickly before looking away.

"To my knowledge you have killed once before." The comment was almost off-handed. Nevertheless, Hiruzen let it hang long enough to make it obvious he expected a reply. Naruto stared as the old man lit his pipe with a slight flick of the hand. _Fire manipulation,_ his mind supplied distantly.

"That was unavoidable, and unplanned. I just don't like the thought of taking someone's life simply because it's _convenient."_

"You're an idealist." Danzo, surprisingly, had voiced that. "I can respect that."

At this Naruto gave the bandaged man a raised eyebrow in challenge. Danzo smiled bitterly. "It's far better to put your faith in ideals than in people. People are whimsical and bound by mortality whereas an ideal is consistent and everlasting. However, you would do well to get rid of that naïve perspective of yours. Sometimes taking a life is more than merely convenient, sometimes it's necessary."

"That's the sort of sentence that can excuse nearly anything." Naruto returned hotly. He rose out of his chair to face the Sandaime. "Can we get started? I'd like to get this over with."

Danzo leaned further back into his chair and began writing small tidy lines over the sheets in his hands. The image only served to aggravate Naruto further, _how dare he say I'm naïve?_

"Well, the floor is right there. Kakashi and Tenzo have their instructions." When Naruto didn't immediately move, he was shooed away. "Go on then, I will take notes on you, so don't hold back."

Nodding, Naruto trailed after the two assistants. Kakashi started talking when Naruto caught up.

"Okay, your first test: Reflexes, perception and general reaction time." The masked man ticked off a finger at each point. "We'll begin immediately."

The actual testing proved very peculiar at first, at least to Naruto. Tenzo stepped away and watched with crossed arms as Naruto and Kakashi walked into the center of the large open room. Once there, the silver haired Jonin held up a simple rubber ball.

"Try to keep track of this, your objective is to catch it, but you have a time limit of three minutes."

 _Poof_ , and three identical sets of Kakashi's popped into existence from a smoke screen. _Ugh, I can tell this is going be difficult already._

That thought quickly proved itself true, as the Jonin had his clones' dash around him at different ranges, all the while passing the ball around with incredible strength. Naruto thought he might break an arm snatching the ball at that speed. _If I can catch it at all, that is_. He was tempted to use a few shadow clones himself, but figured it would work against the purpose of the test. When Uzumaki Naruto did something, he did it properly.

The ball however, simply travelled too fast to rely on instincts alone. He might have been able to catch it given a few attempts, but not on the first try, and Naruto had long ago fallen into the habit of perfecting everything. He wanted to get the timing down before doing anything.

Naruto didn't try to keep his attention on the ball for long when it got him nowhere. Instead, he watched the clones in the hopes of catching a pattern.

Every throw went either left or right. He completely disregarded the occasional odd ball that whizzed by uncomfortably close.

He _could_ take a gamble and preemptively dash as Kakashi threw the ball, and hope he lucked out. Even if that worked however, it wasn't the clean solution he wanted.

 _I guess I have to memorize his movements._

After having watched several repetitions however, it became obvious Kakashi never threw the same throw twice in a row. If one clone threw an overhead fastball, then the next would always throw something else – a low curveball example wise. Moreover, the man had no obvious idiosyncrasies, it was clear Kakashi was trying to be unpredictable with his throws.

That was not entirely bad for Naruto. The fact that Kakashi was intentionally mixing up his pattern gave Naruto some good information. For one, Kakashi had yet to throw the same kind of ball twice. If he kept that in mind and remained observant, he could effectively rule out an entire throw.

Now, if he could somehow figure out how to get a good read on the Jonin, maybe he could anticipate a throw and react in time.

 _The timer is ticking down fast. I need to be quick about this._

A slow exhale calmed him somewhat. He straightened up and tried not to be too obvious in his thinking. His blue eyes skipped from clone to clone.

Whoever he was, Hatake Kakashi was a refined shinobi. His movements belied years of field experience and a firm confidence. The man had clearly taken great care to erase his patterns, his habits.

But what Naruto tried to spot was beyond that. He was trying to see even the slightest preference in the man's movements, the tiniest hint of anything 'regular'. Not a habit, not a pattern, but something to exploit nonetheless. He was disappointed to come up with nothing as the seconds passed by.

 _He's too meticulous._

There was no timer anywhere as far as he could tell, but Naruto had a fairly good internal clock. There wasn't many seconds left.

 _I guess . . . It's time to try._

It happened at explosive speeds. Kakashi received a fastball and began the first motions to throw. _Considering it's the last few seconds, he's going to play it safe and throw it straight into the closest clone_. Naruto blasted off from his point in the middle of the clones with a large chakra burst.

The Ex-ANBU reacted quickly, and changed the course of his throw. _The kid made a good guess, but he should have tried something sooner. Going for the ball in the last few seconds is far too predictable._

Kakashi released the ball and watched as it flew through the air towards the clone furthest away from Naruto. _He messed up._ Kakashi summarized to himself.

The Jonin choked on that very thought in the next instant when Naruto blasted straight into the ball's trajectory.

 _He managed to turn so abruptly!?_

The rubber ball slammed into the boy's ready hand with a satisfying _smack!_ Naruto let his momentum carry him forward and was able to skid to a stop several meters away from where he had intercepted the ball. A moment of silence, then several audible pops signaled the disappearance of Kakashi's clones.

"You . . . how did you do that?" The silver haired shinobi asked, not sure how the boy had done it. _No one can react that fast!_

The young blonde gave his instructor a neutral look, and Kakashi almost physically winced at the striking resemblance the boy had to his father.

" . . . You never adhered to a pattern. But to constantly keep away from any pattern is in itself also a pattern. I hope you know this? That's what made it possible to beat your test. I knew that you would expect me to do something in the last few seconds, so I let you think I was going for your most likely throw. When in reality, I was waiting for your real throw."

Naruto gave him a satisfied smile. "If you had done a few repetitive throws every now and then I don't think I would have tried that move against you."

From the table a small distance away, the Sandaime paused in his scribblings to add something. "He read you, Kakashi. Not your patterns, I think. But your tendencies, your methodology. The way you operate and make decisions."

The Jonin seemed stymied at that, if only for a moment. "He was able to see what was underneath the underneath." He muttered in realization. "Hmm, okay. Next test we'll check out your speed."

Naruto nodded, and glanced at the ANBU operative, who continued to watch the proceedings stoically from the side. Danzo mostly had his eyes on his writings, but every now and then he looked up to study Naruto.

It was going to be a long day.

After having him run through a gauntlet to test his speed, he was surprised to see Tenzo issue the next test, a test of brute force. The ANBU spoke with a clear voice, and used inflections to impress the importance of certain words. Not like Kakashi's laid back and relaxed explanations.

"We'll measure your strength next. First we'll see what you can do without _any_ chakra enhancement helping you." Tenzo paused, and Naruto could feel the man considering him from behind the mask.

"Before that, however, you need to understand the absolute secrecy you will have to maintain after today. Needless to say, what transpire down here today cannot be spoken of. That goes doubly so for what I'm about to show you."

Naruto merely nodded, slightly surprised at the sudden intensity of the ANBU.

It was all made very clear when actual branches _grew_ out of the man's open palms. Naruto was mollified. "That's . . ."

"Mokuton-release, yes. Recognize, accept and adapt. I'm not going to answer any of your questions right now."

Naruto looked up into the slits of the ANBU mask, a pair of black eyes looked back at him. Naruto dipped his head in understanding. _He's not going to answer any questions. Still . . . The Shodaime's ability in someone else. That is scary._

"Okay, let's get started."

Tenzo wasted no time in doing just that. He kneeled down and swiftly created a wooden dummy. Or rather, he _grew_ one out of his hands. Tenzo then straightened up and stepped away from his creation. He gave a meaningful look to Naruto.

"Remember, no chakra. Show us what you got."

Naruto stared at the dummy in front of from him. _Strength, eh? Well, it's obvious enough what they want me to do._

Naruto reared back his arm, and stepped forward with the intent to punch it with enough force to see it flying.

Tenzo regarded the boy silently. In truth, he didn't expect the boy to do much damage. By not allowing the boy any chakra usage, they had effectively _removed_ all of his firepower. For some reason the Sandaime still wanted to know what the Uzumaki could do despite the obvious outcome.

 _CRUNCH!_

Tenzo looked on in interest as the target dummy took an impressive double back flip before it crash-landed headfirst a small distance away. _Not at all bad, did he cheat somehow?_ Tenzo peeked over at Kakashi, who was staring at Naruto with his lone Sharingan activated. _Kakashi didn't see anything. He would have signaled me otherwise._

Still, Tenzo looked back at the young subject – who was currently waving a scraped and bruised hand around. To have that much raw physical strength so early in life was no small feat, Tenzo briefly wondered at what the boy had done in order to attain it. Part of it might be due to his Jinchuriki status, but that was not nearly all there was to it. Tenzo was certain of that.

"One more time, Naruto-san. Give us your best shot, chakra is allowed."

This time, Tenzo made the dummy several times more robust and heavy. Yet it hardly seemed to matter. With chakra at his disposal again, Naruto easily plowed the dummy into the far wall.

Tenzo allowed a ghost of a smile to grace his lips. _We're going to have a field day with this kid._

"I think it's time we moved onto a combat scenario, what do you think, Kakashi-senpai?"

"Agreed." Kakashi concurred from the sidelines. He gave Naruto a questioning look. "Unless you want to wait until after we've examined your entire skillset?"

"Point taken." Naruto replied. "I'm ready when you are."

Tenzo moved away, and Kakashi's visible eye narrowed slightly. _Overconfidence?_

"Don't take this –"

Kakashi formed a hand seal with both thumbs pointing up. Naruto processed the single seal quickly. _That's a tiger seal – a Shunshin!_

"Lightly!"

The silver haired Jonin appeared behind Naruto thinking the boy would try to scatter. He was surprised when instead; Naruto performed a sudden spin kick aimed at his solar plexus.

The experienced veteran deftly caught the leg by the ankle before it hit its mark. _That's some good reflexes and decisiveness, but a bad move overall._ Kakashi chided internally.

He was surprised yet again though, when Naruto kicked off ground with his standing leg, and once in the air, he _twirled._ Kakashi reeled back a bit as he caught the sweeping kick, this one uncomfortably close to his face.

 _Didn't he learn from the first failure?_ Kakashi wondered. _I'll just throw him into the ground!_

Naruto – with both his legs in a vice grip – quickly realized his predicament, and immediately snapped out his right arm. Kakashi watched the arm stretch out towards him in confusion. _It shouldn't make contact._

A small cloud of smoke appeared and momentarily concealed parts of Naruto's body, who was now level with the ground and picking up speed from Kakashi's swing.

Then, a sharp knife cut through the smoke like an angry bird of prey. Kakashi was forced to let go in order to dodge the wide slash. Naruto caught himself with his left hand and rolled back onto his feet and into a low stance.

The Jonin let out a small breath. He hadn't imagined himself nearly cut open in the very first exchange with the boy. He looked up, and the Uzumaki met his eyes without any of the fear and nervousness you would expect in someone so young in that situation. Instead, Naruto's eyes considered him blankly, analytically.

 _Looks like I won't have to tell him to come at me with the intent to kill._ His hand travelled up his chest to rest at his collarbone, where the tanto from earlier had nearly drawn blood. _He's already given it a good go, after all._

With a slight exhale, Kakashi pulled away his forehead protector. Naruto stared at the revealed Sharingan, and something finally clicked in his head.

"You . . . You're the Copynin, aren't you? Famed for stealing a 1000 techniques, supposedly."

"Hmph, I would expect nothing less from you at this point. Still, Jiraiya-sama overdid himself this time."

Naruto took the compliment without comment. Neither felt a need to mention their odd connection derived from the Yondaime. In the end, that was unnecessary. Instead, Naruto made the seal of reconciliation. Jiraiya had explained once how the seal was used prior to traditional shinobi sparring, to demonstrate that the two opponents are still comrades after sparring. In this instance, Naruto hoped it conveyed some of his respect for the famous Jonin who had once been his father's pupil.

Despite the facemask, Naruto could detect a small smile in the man. The two then lowered into their separate stances. Naruto with his tanto at the ready, and Kakashi with several kunai held in-between his fingers. A sort of excited energy came over the Uzumaki.

Unable to wait any longer, Naruto ran at the Jonin.

The renowned Sharingan wielder met him head on, and for a breathtaking moment, the two traded blows evenly. Steel bit into steel as the two wrestled for dominance. Shimura Danzo paused in his writings to observe more carefully. _Taking Kakashi on like that is beyond foolish. Even if he's holding his own for the moment._

Naruto slashed at the Jonin with ferocious fervor, the equilibrium was already inclining. He knew what he was doing was reckless. In addition to the Sharingan, Naruto was physically outmatched. Although he used ample amounts of chakra to greatly boost his own strength, that didn't change his inferior height or reach. To top it all off, Kakashi was by far the more experienced of the two.

Despite all of that. Or maybe _because_ of it. Naruto refused to back down. He wanted to see how far his abilities could take him against such a strong opponent.

He wanted to try!

Kakashi deflected the tanto with a sweep of his kunai. The Sharingan wielder then tried to step in closer to better work the angles with his choice of weapon. Naruto recognized his intentions almost immediately and hopped backwards into a defensive stance. _He knows I have the better reach with the tanto, and he probably thinks I'll use that to counter attack him when he steps in . . ._

 _But why should I make things obvious?_

Kakashi was closing the distance when Naruto vitalized his body with a large influx of chakra. Quick as lightning, Naruto flicked two senbon at the approaching Jonin before he dashed forward with a thrust of his Tanto. The Jonin merely leapt above the danger zone and launched some of his own projectiles down at Naruto in the process. The Uzumaki sidestepped them narrowly, and with a rapid swivel of his body, he blasted off a **Futon: Kazekiri** at the airborne Kakashi.

The wind cutter never hit Kakashi. Instead, it sliced through the handle of a lone Kunai.

 _He used Kawarimi!_

The silver haired Jonin reappeared directly behind Naruto, at the spot where the last of his earlier projectiles had hit. The young blonde whirled around just in time to put up a guard. Even so, the strong kick had him skid several meters across the stone floor. Naruto recovered quickly, but he was surprised when he saw Kakashi reach over his shoulder to unsheathe a steel blade of his own. Also a tanto.

"It's been a while since I used one of these, I usually don't have to. But swordsmanship is one of my best qualities, you know." The Jonin drawled warningly.

"Bring it." Naruto called out. _You're not the only one talented here!_

Without any hand signs, Naruto blurred into a shunshin. He reappeared at Kakashi's right side. The two slim blades clashed in a shower of sparks, but Naruto didn't have the raw strength to challenge Kakashi for more than a moment. He didn't need any more than that. With his left hand he hooked a finger around one of his kunai before he expertly twirled it into his grip. Withdrawing his tanto, Naruto narrowly sidestepped Kakashi's immediate follow up attack, and in the same motion, he stabbed at the man's side with his off-hand. Kakashi flicked it away with a kunai of his own.

Growing bold, Naruto did an abrupt dash to the side, he then performed a curved upwards strike with the tanto. Kakashi smacked it away, he then moved to parry Naruto's subsequent off-hand stab. Only, this time it was more to it than just a stab. Kakashi's eyes widened. _He' infusing the kunai with wind chakra!_

With the wind chakra extending his reach, Naruto managed to cut off the tip of Kakashi's kunai, he was also able to tear a rift in the man's flak jacket.

 _His Sharingan managed to see me molding the nature chakra? That's pretty amazing._

He didn't get to think much more, because Kakashi had finally decided to go on the offensive again. The Jonin dropped the now useless kunai in favor of using his tanto with both hands. All thoughts seized in Naruto's head when the silver haired Jonin went on the attack. Years of inbuilt muscle memory and instinct guided the teen as he continued to parry and weave in-between increasingly violent attacks.

Naruto deflected three rapid strikes from Kakashi. He then stepped forward to slash at the Jonin with his own blade, but the veteran batted his attack to the side and quickly went for the opening. Unknown to Kakashi, Naruto also saw an opportunity. The younger duelist moved and used his left hand to _grab_ and stop Kakashi's blade in its movement.

Naruto grimaced in pain, and blood spurted onto the floor. Kakashi stared at him.

"Looks like you drew first blood." Naruto congratulated with an adrenalin-filled smile.

"Bad move, Naruto." The Jonin replied quietly, before channeling lightning into the blade.

Or rather, he tried to, but the blade vanished in a small smoke cloud. Unbeknownst to the elite shinobi, Naruto had sealed it into himself. Kakashi barely contained his surprise at the sudden lack of his weapon.

Naruto pounced at the opportunity with a feral grin. Kakashi leaned out of the way of Naruto's wind enhanced swing with very little margin. The Jonin then opted to use another kawarimi to create some distance. Naruto had anticipated the move, and dropped his tanto in order to form the bird sign. Kakashi had little time to recollect himself before an air bullet was fired from across the room. The old ANBU operative danced past the bullet, just in time to see his _own tanto_ slice through the air towards him.

Kakashi dodged that too, and the tanto flew past him. Only to realize Naruto was nowhere in sight. _The tanto! He substituted!?_

The Jonin whirled around with blinding speed. He only barely managed to stop Naruto from cleaving him in two.

Kakashi's eyes bulged when he noticed the seal-tag on Naruto's arm – no, scratch that, the _clone's arm_.

The copy then exploded in a spectacular fashion. Even with the shunshin, Kakashi didn't get away unscathed. The Sharingan wielder appeared on the other side of the room with a thin trail of smoke rising in his wake. Thankfully, the flak jacket had done a good job protecting him from the blast. Even so, the burnished markings in his clothes hinted at some good damage. _Argh, my hair got singed. I'm never going to live this down._

The lazy Jonin straightened up to look across the room, where Uzumaki Naruto stood staring at him in a silent challenge. His bleeding hand dripped only a few drops now. Just as interestingly, a smoke bomb was releasing a steady stream of thick, black smoke from a point in between the two. Kakashi regarded the fumes calculatingly. _A smoke screen now, what's he planning?_

Removed from the fight, the two village elders by the table had long ago abandoned their ministrations in favor of spectating the fast-paced spar more closely.

"Kakashi is being too lenient." Danzo murmured.

"Maybe, Kakashi was very fond of Minato, and this is his son he's fighting." Hiruzen replied. By now, Naruto's smoke bomb had sent large parts of the room into obscurity. The young apprentice was somewhere inside, no doubt making traps. Kakashi walked fearlessly into the black smog. _A shadow clone._ Hiruzen guessed.

"Even so, Naruto might be a ways off from Kakashi's level, but he's clever enough to still pose a threat. In a way, Kakashi's natural inclination to avoid any unnecessary risks is helping him a great deal in this fight. A more aggressive Jonin might have been able to overwhelm Naruto early on, but there is also a small chance Naruto would have overcome them using his dangerous tricks. The ones Kakashi have been successfully evading – well, evaded for the most part."

Danzo nodded stiffly at the lecture, but looked up when an explosion blew some of the smoke screen away. The youngest combatant in the room waited patiently, still partially obscured by the remaining vapors. Kakashi was nowhere in sight.

"Seems the clone stepped into something he shouldn't have." The Root leader spoke quietly. The Hokage inclined his head in agreement, having arrived at the same conclusion.

 _But where is the real one?_

The quiet disappeared when Hatake Kakashi burst out of the last remaining smoke with tremendous speed. He then recognized the seal under Naruto's form. The Jonin immediately skidded to a stop. _Another explosive surprise?_

The two fighters locked eyes. Kakashi with his narrowed three tomoe Sharingan and Naruto with his focused blue ones.

Some distance away and close to the wall, the real Naruto was observing events from a crouch. He resolutely held up a single-handed seal, and Kakashi's clone vanished in the resulting explosion. His Sharingan had failed to spot a seal behind him through some of the last smoke wisps.

To be truthful, Naruto wasn't even sure which of them benefited most from an extended fight. He had the unfair advantages that came with being a Jinchuriki, monstrous endurance and vitality being the key factors. Then again, the more Kakashi learned, the less of a chance Naruto had in overcoming the gap in experience.

Either way, stalling any more would be boring.

That thought hit him just as his spatial awareness kicked in. Naruto quickly dashed to the side. He never saw the projectiles, but he heard them clack into the floor behind him. Instead, Naruto quickly adapted a guard stance, which stopped Kakashi's heel kick. If only barely.

Naruto didn't pause to check for any damage. He had to apply some pressure of his own. He stepped in close to the Jonin and performed one of the first moves Jiraiya had taught him, years ago. Kakashi deflected the punch and returned fire with an open palm strike, which Naruto dodged by bending unnaturally low. From there the lithe teenager leaned into a handstand and executed a leg sweep.

Kakashi took to the air to avoid the attack. Responding quickly, Naruto launched himself away and back onto his legs, and in the process, he avoided Kakashi's next attack entirely.

A loud _clang_ resonated through the air, and similar sounds ensued from the center of the room. Naruto managed to take a quick peek at his clone and its adversary, before another small-scale explosion shook the room ever so slightly. Naruto was back to observing Kakashi when he received his clone's memories. _So, both of our duplicates took each other out._

. . .

As if on cue, both opponents charged ahead and met each other in a furious contest of Taijutsu. Naruto made sure to never use the same move in the exact same way, he had to respect Kakashi's Sharingan. Nevertheless, despite using everything in his Taijutsu repertoire, he still found himself on the defensive. The Jonin was just too good, and his Sharingan made it nearly impossible to go on the offensive.

It was time for a strategy change. A glancing blow struck his shoulder, and Naruto had to quickly duck and roll to escape the onslaught that followed. Naruto bounced to his feet and quickly took out a kunai to fend off Kakashi, who equipped a kunai of his own in response. The two locked in a power struggle. Naruto struggled until he channeled wind-chakra through his kunai. He was surprised however, when Kakashi brought his lightning element into play.

The two stood in a deadlock of disastrous proportions. Wind howled against screeching lightning. Naruto gritted his teeth and focused on making his chakra as sharp as possible. Kakashi had the advantage in size and strength; he might even be better with lightning than Naruto was with wind. Even so . . .

 _You're not beating me with a_ weaker _element!_

With considerable effort, Naruto pushed on and sliced _through_ Kakashi's kunai. What happened then occurred in an instant. Naruto, carried by his momentum, tried to stab the Jonin in his side. Their eyes met for half a second. Then, Naruto ran the kunai through the flak jacket and deep into the man.

Kakashi stunned through gritted teeth and dropped to his knees. The young apprentice reflexively let go of the kunai.

 _What? Did I . . . No! It's Genjutsu!_

He just couldn't see himself taking Kakashi down with such a simplistic move. Earlier he had made the mistake of looking into the Sharingan for a split second. _That's probably when he got me under._

An acute sense of danger rose up in him. Was there any time left to dispel the illusion? Kakashi wouldn't hesitate in taking him down even if Naruto was effectively blind. He was sure of that.

Naruto ignored the bleeding fake Jonin on the ground and quickly blasted away from the spot. He was fully aware that Kakashi could be literarily anywhere. Naruto quickly closed his eyes and formed a ram seal. He had to focus on channeling chakra.

Instead of directing it around smoothly as he normally did, this time he forcefully squeezed the chakra through his coils at a record speed. The power obeyed, and the mysterious substance coursed through him. Chakra was life, and Naruto always felt that to his very core when he used it.

With so much chakra roaring through his system, Naruto was standing on a dangerous cusp. He had to use some of it _very_ soon or risk destroying his chakra system. It had done its job however. Any foreign chakra in him was without doubt long gone by now. It was high time he weaponized some of his carefully gathered chakra.

Naruto cracked open his eyes, and immediately spotted Kakashi moving towards him in a fast run. The Jonin got more than he bargained for when Naruto took a step forward and met him in a close up Taijutsu slugfest. Naruto's chakra system was close to the boiling point, but he relieved part of the pressure by discharging a great deal of chakra into his move sets. Kakashi was caught off guard by the sudden explosive burst of power in the blonde.

Naruto plowed into Kakashi's blocks. Who winced every now and then at the fierce power of each strike. After another powerful attack, Kakashi adapted and took hold of a kunai. Naruto saw this and quickly changed his own stance into a more fluid and versatile one. With both palms held flat, Naruto attacked again.

Kakashi dodged the attacks, and his eyes narrowed when actual wind blades extended out from the young shinobi's flat hands. _That requires some serious guts, considering he could just as easily cut himself with that technique. It says something about his control over the wind element though._

Kakashi quickly understood how difficult taking the boy on at close range would be right then. A part of him wanted to use some of his more lethal techniques to even the field, but that was out of the question. Instead, Kakashi opted to make some space. He should probably check out how the boy did on the medium-range anyways. Preferably, _before_ he ran out of chakra. He was starting to feel his reservoir draining. He used another shunshin, with no assistance from the traditional tiger-sign.

To his immense shock, the young Futon-user appeared at his side in the next instant, already in the motion of another attack. _He read me!?_ Age-old instincts resurfaced in the ex-ANBU, and Kakashi responded by lowering his center of gravity and striking out at Naruto in a vicious counter attack. Electricity thrummed into life, and small sparks danced over Kakashi's hand.

It was not quite a Chidori, but it was dangerous nonetheless.

Surprised at the immediate reaction, the Uzumaki shifted himself more to the right with a powerful chakra burst to his feet. The young prodigy whizzed past the lightning attack to the dismay of the Jonin. Acting in mid-movement, Naruto took a hasty chop at Kakashi with his wind-style aiding him.

The Jonin evaded the dangerous attack and took hold of Naruto's wrist. In response, Naruto reshaped the last of his pent-up chakra into his wind-affinity. A concentrated burst of air escaped his left hand and hit Kakashi. The blast knocked the air out of the man and pushed him across the floor on the balls of his feet.

Naruto didn't pause to look, instead he flicked a senbon needle at the veteran before he ran to engage him again. The young blonde had realized something valuable. Unlike with his teacher, it seemed he could actually _overpower_ Kakashi in the chakra department. _That might be useful, because I can't fight him efficiently up close as long as he has his Sharingan active._

Kakashi recovered quickly enough to dodge the senbon easily, and before Naruto managed to reach him, Kakashi flashed through a hand sign so fast Naruto failed to spot it.

The Uzumaki nimbly dug out a seal from his Fuuinjutsu compartment. He didn't stop his run. Not even when Kakashi finished the Jutsu by spewing a fireball at him. Naruto ran some chakra into the scroll and held it up towards the fire technique. The fiery red-hot ball was absorbed into Naruto's complex elements seal.

Naruto clutched the scroll in his left hand and channeled a tiny trace amount of chakra into his right, where his trusty tanto appeared in the next moment. He stepped up to Kakashi fully intent to continue fighting. But it was not to be.

" _Enough._ "

The two combatants stilled in their movements. For a short moment, neither moved.

The Sandaime rose from his seat, and in a calm tone he said. "I believe I have seen more than enough to draw up an accurate image, we have other things to go through today as well, as I'm sure you both know."

The two slowly relaxed their postures, bit by bit they disconnected their flight or fight instincts.

The Hokage sat down again and made a small hand motion at the quietly observing Tenzo. Hiruzen expected the instructor to keep to the schedule. Tenzo dipped his head in recognition before performing the shunshin.

"A good spar, you performed at a more than adequate level Naruto-san." Naruto stiffened at the close proximity to the Mokuton-user, whom he had not noticed appearing behind them.

"Ah, well, thank you. It was just starting to get interesting though." Naruto replied, a bit winded after the spar.

"Yes, I look forward to seeing you in the exams. Moving on, Hokage-sama's next point on the list is chakra control. After that, we want to go through your Ninjutsu. Your manipulation over your affinity is remarkable, I want to see how far you can take it. Also, do you have some control over the other elements? Other than that, we're also going to thoroughly dissect your Taijutsu, you had at least three distinct styles that I noticed, any others? There's also a few theoretical tests Hokage-sama wants you to take, as well as . . ."

Naruto listened closely, silently dreading the ensuing hours. _A long day indeed._

xXx

A worn down and exhausted Naruto returned to his new apartment that night. He had almost made it up the stairs to his flat when a door somewhere on the story above opened. Two raised voices easily made it down to him. He paused in surprise.

"I'm just saying you could try working with the team a bit more!"

"Oh yeah? I don't see you complaining when I save your asses! Still, it's nice to see you guys appreciate what I do!"

A door slammed shut somewhere above him, and Naruto swiveled his head around to see a girl stomping down the stairs. Hadn't he been so tired, he might have moved out of the way. That was not the case, and he watched with detached feeling as the pink-eyed girl stiffly walked down the stairs with her fists clenched tightly.

Their eyes met for an instant, and Naruto found himself hoping she wouldn't walk into him. No such luck, she attempted to shoulder her way through him. Instead, she grunted and stumbled back when she hit what felt more like a rock wall than a person. Her hands quickly reached out to grab the railing before sending the blonde a scorching look. Naruto didn't react at all. He merely kept his eyes on her.

"What's your deal? I'm not in the mood for this!" The girl said loudly.

Naruto released a small breath, and walked past her.

"Yeah, you just walk away, and _stay_ away too. Don't waste my time, I'm gonna win this exam."

"Doubtful." The simple reply infuriated the black haired girl to no end. She turned around and stared hard after the incredulous boy. Naruto kept walking.

"What the hell does that mean? You think I'm not good enough, huh? I'm the granddaughter of the Tsuchikage, you shouldn't underestimate me."

"No, it's just that I'm probably gonna have to win it." He gave a tiny shrug. One that very clearly said _'tough luck.'_

The audacity of the boy left the Iwa Genin stunned for a moment. Unbothered and tired, Naruto unlocked number 9 and walked into his flat without further comment.

He did take some amusement from the frustrated groan he heard outside, followed by a mad dash down the stairs.

 **A/N Okay! How was it like? I might go and edit a few things in this one later, but for now this is the release.**

 **At the end of the next chapter, we'll get to the start of the exams. Which I'm looking forward to! Stick around if you want to read it. Like previously stated, the exams will be original from the get go.**

 **Leave a review if you have time to spare!**


	5. The Exam Begins

**A/N Heeeeey, I'm back . . . Hurray? Yeah, so, I blipped off the radar for a while. Can't do much about that, it happens. I was even gracious enough to warn you in the first chapter it** ** _would_** **eventually happen. Inconsistent updates folks, I called it didn't I? I should get a prize for my omnipotence.**

 **In any case, thanks for all the nice reviews. There's a new chapter to be read. I hope you like it.**

 **Legacy Ascending**

The Exam Begins

 **~ Early morning – The Hokage office ~**

"Let me just ask you one thing, Hokage-sama. Have you become slightly unhinged in your age?"

"Please, at least ask me something relevant, Shikaku." Sarutobi replied nonchalantly to his subordinate's abrasive question. The old leader had been in a perpetual good mood for the past few days. People had taken note of it, but the old man had omitted a clear answer to every question on the matter. Unfortunately, Shikaku Nara seemed to think he was becoming senile.

Hiruzen couldn't really blame the man. Shikaku simply didn't have the pieces, nor was he aware of the game taking place.

Konoha's resident mastermind took a calming breath at the Sandaime's unbothered dismissal. "Very well, I'll start by asking why the _hell_ you thought it was a good idea to invite Iwa and Kumo to this exam. Or Kiri for that matter."

"You've asked me that a few times this month already Shikaku, and to think some of the clan heads doubted they would even show up."

"Of course they showed up! We literarily gave them a free pass into Konoha. Anyone would have taken that opportunity." The Nara shook his head, disturbed by the lack of impact his words had on the man in front of him.

The Sandaime pointed to the folders sandwiched under his commander's arm. "Financial reports I take it? Give them here and I'll verify them."

The Jonin commander handed the papers over almost reluctantly. "We've reached a new low on funds: The new construction projects have proved themselves expensive – as I warned. We could at least have cut some costs by charging the stay of the participants."

"I never doubted your warnings, Shikaku, but charging their stay would be unwise." The Sandaime replied as he skimmed over the numbers. Shikaku let out another long breath.

"Hokage-sama, your recent decisions have left a lot to be desired. Certainly, Jiraiya-sama's return is wonderful news, but where do you keep the Uzumaki?" Shikaku put his hands on the desk in front of him and leaned forward to stare at his leader's unbothered visage.

The Sandaime continued to glance over the numbers.

Shikaku let out his frustrations with the man. "Why build all these new things? The arena, the apartments, why? The fact that we're going to host this vast exam of yours _tomorrow_ is just great. My _son_ will be there, and with so many unknowns participating I worry for his safety – him and the rest of the rookies."

The Sandaime paused in his readings to look at his commander; the man met his gaze with steely determination. Hiruzen knew Shikaku's devotion was the sole reason he still had the magnificent Jonin commander at his side. Even so, Hiruzen could identify a fraying loyalty when he saw one. The Hokage held up two fingers with the air of a man who expected things to be _done._

Shikaku observed as two previously hidden ANBU's appeared in the darkened corners of the room. Both cleared out after activating a number of privacy seals behind some of the many canvases of the room.

Shikaku Nara took a seat, inwardly very satisfied with the sudden turn of events. "I take it you're finally going to explain some of this to me?" The commander guessed.

"Yes." _Some of it._ "Five months ago, I received some . . . peculiar news from our ambassador in Sunagakure."

"And?"

"It was a simple note. It stated how he had come to realize he had several matters left unattended in Konoha. He wanted to return home to put these affairs in order."

Shikaku waited expectantly.

"Unfortunately, he never had a chance to return home. He died the day after he wrote the message."

The Nara grunted, clearly displeased. "This is why we shouldn't have stopped indoctrinating spies into our ally nations. Someone trained for that sort of scenario would have been far more able to cover his trace. Our diplomat might have survived."

"I still say we can't build our alliances on distrust, Shikaku, but I'll admit the idea is far more tempting now. In any case, I immediately had Ibiki thoroughly examine the letter. Our standard screening process never found anything, but Ibiki discovered something of note."

"Out with it." Shikaku replied. He disliked how the Sandaime had to be theatrical at times.

"There was no encrypted message, no hidden code, at least not in the actual words. However, the letter contained trace elements of things you usually don't find in paper, like pigments and paraffin."

A light of interest flickered in Shikaku's eyes. "I see, and what did Ibiki make of it?"

"He realized no amount of staring at the note under the light would help. Instead he made this." The Hokage picked out a particularly thin paper from one of his drawers. "It's a drawing. By covering the letter with this paper, Ibiki brought out the secrets by gently scrubbing a piece of charcoal over it. Very simplistic."

Shikaku took the paper handed to him, his brows furrowed. He took a long look. His eyes were grave when he looked up at his leader again.

"A snake?"

" _Eating_ leafs? Yes. I also think it's lying on a sand dune, but it's a bit hard to tell."

"I understand how one can arrive at some conclusions from this, but still, it's farfetched." The Jonin commander seemed skeptical.

The Sandaime straightened in his cushioned armchair. "This is not shogi, Shikaku. We don't have the luxury of a bird's eye view of the entire battlefield and everyone in it. I have to make do with what little intelligence I have, and ignoring this would be the height of stupidity."

Shikaku nodded, he could agree with that. "Exactly how many knows?"

"Me, you and Ibiki. Jiraiya is also in the fold. Now, I discovered this five months ago, and as you stated, this is a bit farfetched. At the time I immediately contacted Jiraiya and gave him the gist of our discoveries. As is his wont whenever Orochimaru is concerned, he agreed to investigate."

The Sandaime let out a small sigh. "He trekked off with our young Namikaze, and headed for Otogakure."

Shikaku looked up in surprise. "The new village just above our northern borders?"

"Precisely that one. It's sudden appearance was suspicious in and of itself, and we knew Orochimaru liked to meddle. Frankly, at the time it seemed unlikely he was _not_ involved with the village in some way. The incriminating letter we received convinced Jiraiya to look for clues after the snake, and as Jiraiya had no good leads on Orochimaru's whereabouts . . ."

"He went to a place he felt Orochimaru might have been active, not unreasonable given the situation. But did he have to bring the boy?" Shikaku questioned.

"No, but Jiraiya is of the opinion that Naruto is safest by his side. I don't really fault him for that, It's not wrong of him."

Shikaku gave a slight shrug. "The important thing is they made it out alive."

"They did, although not wholly unscathed. Naruto killed."

Shikaku raised a brow in mild interest; he hoped there was a report. "I take it Jiraiya-sama found something of note after going through so much trouble?"

The Hokage eyed his Jonin commander with amusement. "It turns out Orochimaru was more than just involved, he controls Otogakure."

The Sandaime continued on, and the Jonin commander listened with hard eyes.

"Whatever our diplomat discovered in Suna, his message was clear enough to understand. Orochimaru intends to destroy the leaf. The Chunin exams would be the perfect time to do it. To add weight to this, I have noticed several odd inconsistencies in the past few months. Did you know the Kazekage intends to bring an honor guard over twice the usual size this year? Peculiar, no? Naturally, I began to prepare."

"Then, all of this . . . the invites to Iwa, Kiri, Kumo and all the lesser nations, the apartments, the new arena . . ?" Shikaku listed.

"I knew the addition of the other nations would completely unhinge Orochimaru's carefully planned schemes. Now he has to adapt to a whole new set of players, and he can't lash out carelessly unless he wants to make enemies with the most powerful elemental nations."

Shikaku shook his head slightly in an attempt to distance himself from the situation. "You're aware this is a double edged sword, right? Orochimaru could pin a lot of the blame on Konoha in a combat scenario, we're the hosts here."

"I fully expect him to try. We just have to make sure it does not happen. What you have to realize, Shikaku, is that I intend to make Konoha seem _unbeatable_ through these little war games we like to dub as exams. I want the public to _marvel_ at the capacity of our shinobi this year."

"Not bad thinking, but is that image going to hold up once we get invaded?" The Nara murmured concernedly. The Hokage eyed his commander coolly.

"I'm building an 'image', because it will help deter other nations from joining Orochimaru. Anyone tempted by Orochimaru will have second thoughts after witnessing our top Genin in action. Not to mention our gracious treatment of the participants will make them feel . . . flattered and accepted. A rent-free stay in new rooms goes a far way in establishing good relations, and the new arena is crucial because we will host a far larger event this year, and it has a multitude of safety mechanisms built within."

"I can follow you on that. Except: our top Genin? Whom are you referring to? The Uchiha? Or one of the Hyuuga's?"

A small smile stretched across the Sandaime's face.

"He went beyond even my expectations. Our top contender in the Exams is going to be none other than Minato's legacy, and he's developed even faster than I thought he would."

"Naruto?" Shikaku blinked at the revelation, although, in hindsight he should have expected it. The Sandaime looked smug as he pulled out a folder from his desk. The Nara clan head received it and opened the folder with curiosity.

What he read was astounding.

"Is this . . . Is it all legitimate?" He asked in marvel.

The Hokage hummed affirmatively. Shikaku continued to skim over the Uzumaki's file.

"Why has he only been graded in the traditional combat skills? There's more to a shinobi than Ninjutsu, Taijutsu and Genjutsu." Shikaku asked quietly, his attention still on the folder.

"Oh, we examined a great deal more of his abilities, but I decided to send his combat stats to the examination committee."

A small smile appeared on the Sandaime's face.

"I did not give them a name or a description along with the file, in the case of someone biased getting their hands on it. After all, that file is literary proof Naruto is worth his salt as a high-ranking shinobi. There will be no disputing it once I promote him after the exams."

Shikaku nodded slowly, not at all surprised at the deception. His eyes paused at the last sentences of the assessment. _They're recommending him for the title of special Jonin, as a heavy hitter I suppose. Well, his shape and Nature manipulation is ridiculously advanced, and that would be an asset in teams who lack firepower. The Sandaime is as clever as he is underhanded._

Even so, Shikaku couldn't help but to reconsider the situation. "Are you sure you want to reveal him? He could be a great ace in the sleeve, and he will undoubtedly become an even better asset in the future. Particularly because of his Jinchuriki status. Unveiling him now is risky, he'll get targeted."

The Sandaime folded his hands under his chin and gazed at his commander in a more serious manner again. "That's how we traditionally do things with our strongest early bloomers; it is for their own safety. The thing is, I have a plan for our Uzumaki, and keeping him out of the spotlight is not conductive to that plan."

Nara Shikaku blinked. He partially opened his mouth, and then he closed it without saying anything.

"Very well." He finally let out in a tired sigh. "I should call back some of our active Jonin. We definitely need our forces here."

Shikaku rose up from the comfortable armchair, and gave his leader a questioning look. "When are the Kage's coming, precisely?"

"I invited them to bear witness to the entirety of the exam. But it seems they're only going to bother with the finale."

"So a month then, barring none of them shows up out of the blue." Shikaku was mumbling more to himself than to Sarutobi at this point. He looked up after a moment's pause to put down the folder.

"I'll take my leave then, Hokage-sama. I have work to do, a lot more than expected." _How can so much change in the span of a single conversation?_ Was the Nara's thoughts right then.

Hiruzen nodded amiably. "Dismissed. Do what you think is best, Shikaku, I trust your judgement."

The Nara clan head gave a last dip of his head before leaving the office. Preparations were in order.

 **~ Same time – With Naruto ~**

 _The Braying Mare_ was an inn in the red light district, and from what Naruto could gather at first glance, the place seemed used to its fair share of drinking and parties going by the worn down look of the room. Naturally, it had to be a lively place if his teacher had decided to take up residence. Jiraiya was a picky man when it came to certain things – lodging being one of them. Naruto had no doubt the tavern also catered to the more carnal desires of its clientele.

He just hoped he wouldn't find his teacher with a girl hanging off of him in his room this morning. Naruto had to have a one on one talk with him, a difficult scenario if the man was busy groping somebody.

The young Uzumaki spent no more time in the doorway and walked across the fairly empty room – a **Henge** concealed his more prominent features **.** Just as he was about to question the innkeeper, the large form of his protective guardian lumbered down a set of stairs in the back of the large, open room. He was bleary-eyed, Naruto noticed. The toad sage jerked his head at the front door. Naruto nodded back minutely and followed his master out of the dingy establishment.

Out on the streets, Naruto moved up to his teacher's side. The apprentice only threw some halfhearted looks around them. He was supposed to remain incognito until the exams by order of the Sandaime, but it irked him to lay low.

"I was wondering when you would show up." Jiraiya broke the silence first. His tone of voice was amiable, but an octave lower than usual.

"I had some errands to run." Naruto replied in the same low-key tone, and stayed in step with his master when he walked into a back alley.

He wasn't lying either, Naruto had been a busy guy as of late. His intense spar with Kakashi had made some nicks in his tanto. A local blacksmith had mended the knife for a considerable sum. Chakra conductive metals being difficult to work with pushed the price. Luckily, money was not really an issue for Naruto.

More importantly, Naruto had snuck into Konoha's Shinobi library the other day – for a whole slew of reasons. He had no access without any shinobi license, so stealth had been necessary. The fact that he was Jiraiya's apprentice was not official. Actually, his apprenticeship with the sage was knowledge only a select few people in the elemental nations were privy to. Ergo, Naruto had no shinobi license.

Once inside the library, Naruto had went about acquiring a wide variety of writings. Firstly, he had gathered some Fuuinjutsu designs and old jutsu scrolls, simply out of professional interest. Then he ventured deeper, the administrative records and Konoha's mission details resided in a section all its own, and required additional clearance. Fortunately, Naruto had bypassed the security with relative ease after first employing some recognizance.

When inside, Naruto had prioritized information regarding Danzo. As expected, there was no mention of 'Root' anywhere. Naruto had gone over Danzo's old mission details in the hopes of learning something about the man, but whenever he thought he was getting close to something substantial, he arrived at another dead end.

It occurred to him that Danzo might have enough clout to make subtle alterations to the reports. If the man hadn't outright lied during briefing or made changes afterward himself. Naruto didn't hold much beneath that man.

Even so, with ample amounts of shadow clones, the young shinobi in training had been able to scour through thousands of pages in a single hour. He learned some things, and not all of them were merely trivial. Knowledge of Danzo's preferred Taijutsu style and elemental affinity might just come in handy one day when Sarutobi was no longer Hokage.

Not everything he looked at pertained to the leader of Root. He may or may not have stolen a file regarding Uzumaki Kushina. In fact, any information regarding the Uzumaki had been _closely_ examined. That being said, Naruto took everything in with a pinch of salt, not a lot remained of his deceased clan and village. He was always critical to anything he read about the Uzumaki, there were too many theories surrounding his destroyed clan for all of them to be true.

Someday he might go to the ruins of Uzushiogakure to look for answers himself. It would be a pilgrimage of sorts, a journey of self-discovery. A wry smile formed on his face at that.

Jiraiya brought him out of his musings.

"Errands, ey? Well, you're not the only one busy in town, I can tell you that much. I'm actually heading out to get a soak and relieve some of the tension. Wanna join?" The sage ended his monologue with a questioning glance.

"Meh, I'll pass. But I'll tag along with you for now." Naruto responded. The two were still walking through side alleys to stay out of sight from the public.

Jiraiya gave his apprentice an appraising look.

"I spoke with the old man yesterday. He was pleased with your test results to say the least." The sage said. He was clearly amused.

"I haven't seen the results yet, actually. I have a meeting with him tomorrow before the exam begins. I'll probably have a look then." "

"How much did you hold back?" Jiraiya asked solemnly.

Naruto shot his guardian a blank look.

"The Sandaime already had a rundown of what I could do, thanks to you. If I downplayed my skills much he would have noticed."

"The key-word here being 'much'." Jiraiya interjected.

Naruto dipped his head, conceding to that. "I don't know if the Sandaime told you, but Danzo was there. Can't say I like the idea of him knowing everything I can do."

"I heard. So? What did you do?" The man prodded.

"I never showed them anything unless they specifically asked for it, and I only held back when I thought I could get away with it." _Too bad Tenzo had to be so insistent and thorough._ "I managed to keep a lid over a couple of things, but I still feel uncomfortable with that creep knowing my skillset so well."

"Hehe, which is why you've come to the one and only, the great Jiraiya-sama this wonderful morning." The toad sage spoke with the utmost confidence in his words. Naruto disliked how spot on the man actually was. He tried not to show it though.

"Yes _,_ that's why I came to see you, sensei. So you could teach me something new." Naruto replied.

Jiraiya gave his young apprentice a knowing look. Naruto regularly called him by that title if he wanted to learn something out of the ordinary.

"I know what you're thinking kid, but it's still too early for that. Something else will have to do."

Naruto gave his teacher a sullen look.

"Why? What makes Senjutsu so difficult?"

"Well, one mistake and you're petrified, there's that." Jiraiya replied drily.

"When did I last do a mistake, sensei?" Naruto countered.

Jiraiya let out a long-suffering sigh. "Forget about Senjutsu for now, kid. That particular branch of chakra demands a large time window to master, which we don't have. I'm not gonna gamble on your smarts and pray you make it work in time for tomorrow's exam."

The two had stepped out of the alley and into a busy street. Naruto kept his eyes downcast as he walked alongside his teacher. His response was quiet, but Jiraiya picked it up even through all the commotion around them. "I was thinking you could teach me some of it after the initial phase of the exam, actually. It's your decision of course, but at least show me something of note . . . Something powerful on its own. An ace. I'll need it by the end of this farce."

"Are you implying some of the things I show you aren't noteworthy?" Jiraiya mused questioningly.

"Pretty much." Naruto grinned, but the carefree smile slipped quickly. "You know what I mean, old guy."

By now, the two of them had slipped into another of the many sideways veining through the red light district.

"So, no help at all during the exams then? No 'super sage guidance'?" If he were being honest, the exams themselves would actually be a breeze. He just happened to have a lot more on his plate than just examinations.

"Sorry to say, but I've got my own objectives. You have to go it on your own at some point, kid. At least you're gonna be on home turf."

"I'll manage." Naruto replied in earnest. "Whatever the Sandaime wants, I can do it. But I expect you to be around when this whole thing falls apart."

Jiraiya gave a serious nod. "Of course."

Instead of replying, Naruto halted in his movement when he registered something unexpected. Jiraiya quickly noticed his stop.

"What?"

Naruto answered slowly, his mind working through several scenarios as he spoke. "Something just triggered the tremor sensitive seal on my apartment door."

"Oh, you actually bother with using those?" The sage asked in bewilderment.

Naruto eyed his teacher with mild exasperation. In response, he held up a small paper seal for his lackadaisical master to see – it was a standard mirror seal. In short, a mirror seal would always mirror the effects and changes done to its mirroring partner. The one Naruto carried right now was mirroring the tremor seal attached to his front door.

Jiraiya gave the seal a quick look. A thin stream of vapid smoke rose from the elaborate patterns, and the outer edges of each kanji were slightly singed.

"It did its job." Naruto stated. _Someone's at my door? Or is it something else . . ? I should head back and find out in either case._

"You off then?" Jiraiya guessed.

Naruto gave off a positive hum. He then jumped against the closer wall. The acrobatic youth spring-boarded himself further up, and then he grabbed hold of a decrepit lamppost with one hand and heaved himself up to grab the edge of the stone roof with the other. The youngster heaved and pulled himself onto the roof, he rose to look down at his teacher.

"I'd give some penalty points for bad style at the end there." The man commented with a cheery smile.

"Yeah yeah." Naruto waved that away.

"Don't get killed in the aftermath of these exams, okay? I don't want more dead students." Jiraiya proclaimed from the ground. His tone was jokingly, but the words were not.

"I don't plan to." Naruto said before disappearing in a silent shunshin.

Jiraiya stared at the spot where his godson had been. "Neither did your father, kid."

 **~ The Contestants Apartments ~**

Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura traded glances. No one answered the door.

"Let's try the next one, Sasuke-kun." Sakura ventured carefully, to which Sasuke grunted noncommittally. The young Uchiha didn't want his teammate to read too much into this. His only motivation in coming here was to settle a debt – whatever Sakura thought was not it.

He didn't want an ominous life-debt hanging over him in the exams. The Uchiha didn't know if the odd blonde boy would try to exploit the debt in the exams or not. Nevertheless, Sasuke wanted to remove the debt quickly – there was no harm in being careful.

The acclaimed genius had expected the foreigner to seek him out to resolve the stupid debt. He had not. So, with the exams starting the next day, Sasuke had spontaneously agreed to come with Sakura that day. The girl had nagged about tracking down Naruto the last few days. Apparently, she wanted to thank him properly.

That seemed like wasted time to Sasuke, who didn't care all that much about the blonde. Naruto – as the boy had called himself, had seemed powerful. Sasuke would have probably found him interesting in the days _before_ Itachi had ruthlessly killed off their entire clan.

Nowadays Sasuke found it hard to give much of a damn about anything, particularly people. He only desired one thing. To avenge his clan by killing the man responsible for their annihilation.

Anything not related to that muddled down to pretty much the same. Therefore, Sasuke didn't care. Period.

Sakura stepped away from the door when no one answered, and Sasuke followed her with his hands in his pockets, shoulders slouched. Actually finding the stupid blonde foreigner had proven itself a struggle.

"Are you perhaps looking for someone?"

Sasuke whirred around in a reflexive jerk. Sakura turned normally, but blinking like an owl. A man towered in front of them, not menacingly, but clearly expecting respect. He had a lithe body with an angular face. The forehead protector wrapped around his arm immediately identified him as a Kiri Shinobi.

Sasuke had half a mind to tell him to mind his own business. Sakura was faster to respond.

"Yes!" She called out in a pinched voice. Sasuke almost snorted, Sakura always stepped carefully around any authoritarian, with the exception of Kakashi.

"I – that is, _we_ are looking for a boy our age. We think he's here for the exams."

The unfamiliar man nodded along. A few strands of dark brownish hair fell across a pair of intense eyes, also brown. "I see. How does he look like then?"

Sakura's eyebrows creased a bit, and she looked down at the ground searchingly.

"Ehm, I think he's about our height. Bright hair, Blonde. Uhm. Eyes were . . . Blue or green, I can't remember for sure . . ." Sakura trailed off and looked up expectantly at the shinobi.

The Kirigakure Jonin crossed his arms and hummed thoughtfully, as if he was pondering something more profound.

"Well, I and the rest of my team were escorted here a few days ago with a whole slew of different teams. I only spotted one blonde-haired person though, a female. I'm afraid the person you're looking for is not a resident here, he might be from one of the lesser privileged villages. In which case he's probably renting a room somewhere in the village with the rest of his team. Tough luck."

Sakura frowned and looked down dejectedly. "Oh. I see."

Sasuke gave a small shake of his head. "I don't think a guy that strong is from some outback country with no proper hidden village."

The Kirigakure team leader arched an eyebrow at the presumptuous line. He opened his mouth to respond, but paused when a small group of obvious Genin came strolling down the stairs.

The man - still unnamed to Sakura and Sasuke – gave the two of them a brief glance each. There was no intensity to his eyes any longer, and Sakura couldn't help but feel like he had lost whatever interest he'd initially had in them. He twirled around in a shinobi-like motion and stalked off. He gave a last parting comment.

"I'll take my leave now, as my team is waiting. A word of advice to you two – Don't underestimate anyone in these exams. Not even opponents from an 'outback' village."

Sasuke's pride took a dent, and he stared surly after the man. Sakura didn't know how to react, and an uncomfortable silence took place. As was her wont, Sakura began ranting.

"Er, should we try somewhere else then? It could be difficult to find him now though. Hmm, maybe the best thing is to wait until tomorrow. We're sure to see him in the exams, right? I mean, there's no way he's not going to compete. No, I'm sure we-"

"Do what you want, I'm done." Sasuke cut in.

"O-okay." Sakura hated herself for stuttering. If only she could be more composed!

"Done with what exactly?"

Both Sasuke and Sakura snapped their eyes back to the staircase.

Standing casually there was Naruto, an amused smile fixed to his face.

"You _do_ live here!" Sakura shouted and pointed at Naruto as if he was a criminal.

"Well, yes." He answered easily and walked towards them. Sasuke folded his arms, content to watch for the moment.

Naruto threw a thumb over his back.

"Did you also run into the Kiri team just now? Their team leader seemed strange. He looked at me as if I was a ghost or something. That Genin in the front though, she seemed dangerous." Naruto gave Sasuke a bright smile. "You might have to watch out for her, Uchiha-san."

Sasuke frowned at the implied slight to his skills.

"She won't be a problem, as long as you don't trip me up with any demands tomorrow."

Naruto blinked once. Twice. Realization struck. "Oh, you don't have to worry about anything like that."

Sasuke gave him a long stare. Naruto returned it evenly.

"Well, that's good then." Sasuke finally acquiesced. He gave Naruto a last look, before he jumped onto the metal railings of the balcony. He was about to jump off when Sakura nagged again.

"Sasuke-kun! We haven't even thanked him yet, where are you going?"

 _Ugh._ Sasuke reluctantly turned his head around from his crouch on the railings. He supposed he could spare the blonde two words of gratitude before he went off.

He opened his mouth to do just that, when he noticed Naruto wasn't even paying either of them any attention. Instead, he was inspecting one of them many doors they had knocked on earlier.

Clearly, Naruto didn't really care if he thanked him or not. Which was fine by Sasuke. He could leave if that was the case.

"Which of you knocked?"

Sasuke gave pause for the second time, now slightly annoyed.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Sakura wondered aloud.

"Sakura knocked. Why?" Sasuke replied monotonously. He was a bit curious as to why Naruto wanted to know something so trivial. _How does he know we knocked in the first place? A lucky guess? Simple deduction?_

"Because I'm curious. Did you use much force when you knocked, Sakura-chan?"

"Well, we've tried a lot of doors today, I might have gotten a bit frustrated and – oh, what's that, Naruto-san?"

Sasuke sighed in defeat and slipped off the railing, this had better be worth it. As it turned out, it was.

The inside of the door Naruto was inspecting had a large seal affixed to it unlike any other Sasuke had ever seen. It brought up an old line he'd heard sometime in the academy. Fuuinjutsu was not just an art. It was a science. Each line has a purpose, and nothing is ever out of place. That was Fuuinjutsu, and looking at the seal in front of him. He could only agree.

"It's my alarm system. See these blackened areas in the outer rings?" Naruto asked, gesticulating with his hands.

Sakura nodded fervently, wholly consumed by the complex seal in front of her. Sasuke unconsciously leaned closer.

"They appeared a few minutes ago, when you knocked."

Sakura blinked owlishly. "Really? How come?"

Naruto held up his mirror seal. "Well, I thought somebody had knocked down my door, I didn't really expect you two to be honest."

Naruto gestured to the seal on the door. "That's a tremor seal; it's keyed to this mirror seal. I activate the seal when I leave the apartment, and if something happens, my mirror seal will warn me."

Sasuke found himself nodding along. It seemed like useful equipment. _That mirror seal is probably just as complicated as the tremor seal. Why have I never even heard of these?_

"T-that's amazing!" Sakura said two octaves louder than necessary.

Naruto drew a blank at the sudden enthusiasm. "Oh, really? You think so?"

Sasuke deadpanned. _Doesn't he realize how complicated and far ahead this Fuuinjutsu is?_

"Of course I do!" Sakura was quick to declare. "Did you make this yourself?"

"I did. I have a lot more of this inside if you want to see some?"

"Absolutely!"

Sasuke straightened up. It was about time to leave.

"I'd actually planned to finish my set up of the chemistry lab today, but that can wait for a little while longer. I can show you some of the weapons I have, if you like?" Naruto spoke amenably, but with an undertone of excitement.

Sasuke froze in his stretch, and Sakura's comment flew over his head completely unheard.

 _Chemistry lab? A large Fuuinjutsu repertoire. And . . . weapons?_

Sasuke turned to see his teammate shake Naruto's hand and formally introduce herself. While chemistry might not have much of an appeal on him, he knew a knowledgeable chemist could make or refine very dangerous toxins. _Not to mention the Fuinjutsu . . . And besides, what kind of weapons did he have?_

Sasuke took a hesitant step forward. He followed Sakura into the hallway, and he reluctantly shook hands with Naruto when he offered his.

 _I'll be out in five minutes, this is just to sate my curiosity._

Sasuke first managed to leave a couple hours later.

 **~ Day of the Exam – Konoha's arena ~**

Naruto was sitting comfortably, his feet dangling from the edge of a tall spectator box. A VIP seating area, no doubt. The breathtaking view of the new stadium was something to behold from that height, but it went mostly ignored in favor of the assessment in his lap. An assessment of himself no less _._

The Sandaime gave it to him that morning, after having laid down what would be Naruto's first real objective in the exams.

Looking down from his lofty perch, Naruto could only appreciate the view. Not only was the arena and the stadium massive, considerable effort had also gone into shaping the terrain the Genin would fight on.

There was a small desert zone, where dry cracked earth and jagged rocks dominated. An uneven and even rockier zone laid next to it, small hills and the occasional shrub and tree dotted the landscape there. A small lake laid at the foot of this mountainous zone.

Naruto considered the lake small, but he also thought you could probably submerge an entire house in the water without seeing the top.

A couple of small rivers and a few streams snaked their way from the lake and into a forest-like area that took up a very sizeable chunk of the arena. The green lush tree crowns so commonly found in fire country fully covered that zone. A large grassy plain stretched out from the forest, which eventually gave way to the rocky and dry desert area. A full circle.

A small and thin island surrounded by a river on either side took up the center of the arena. Naruto could see partially vanished buildings, out of place stone archways and half-destroyed statues from his vantage point. A ruin theme, it would seem. Two bridges connected the island to the rest of the arena.

 _Definitely going to see some property damage over there._

Despite the sarcastic thought, Naruto was impressed. Quite a few well-versed shinobi must have been working together in order to terraform the surface so thoroughly. It was a good example of how much more chakra could do, other than kill and maim others.

There was already a large gathering of Genin on the island in the center, and a slow trickle of teams was making their way towards that crowd. _When in doubt, flock to the center._ Naruto thought amusedly, before looking down at his assessment.

Apparently, he was good _._

That did not come as a very big surprise to Naruto, but it was nice to read nevertheless. He glanced over the page yet again. For the most part, he agreed to the grades with a few exceptions.

 **A skill assessment of subject '9'**

 **Grades ranges from E being the worst, to S being the best.**

 **Ninjutsu**

 **Chakra levels: S**

 **Chakra control: A**

 **Hand signs and technique: A**

 **Jutsu repertoire: B**

 **Nature manipulation: S**

 **Shape manipulation: S**

 **End notes:**

 **Subject is capable of highly**

 **advanced techniques and has**

 **remarkable chakra control if one**

 **takes the vast chakra reserves into account.**

 **His grade in nature and shape manipulation speaks for itself.**

 ** _As a final overall score, the subject is given the grade_** ** _S_** ** _in the field of Ninjutsu._**

 **Taijutsu**

 **Technique: A**

 **Physical strength: B**

 **Speed: A**

 **Reflexes: A**

 **Hand to eye coordination: A**

 **End notes:**

 **Subject is well versed in**

 **Taijutsu and has reached**

 **a significant level of mastery**

 **with his own unique style, while also**

 **employing two other complementary styles.**

 ** _As a final overall score, the subject is given the grade_** ** _A_** ** _in the field of Taijutsu._**

 **Genjutsu**

 **Technique: C**

 **Resistance: A**

 **Perception: B**

 **Jutsu repertoire: D**

 **End notes:**

 **Subject has a proper understanding**

 **of how to overcome Genjutsu and is capable**

 **of counterattacking at times. That said, an exceptional**

 **Genjutsu poses a problem for him. Although the subject**

 **has reportedly shown an unorthodox method of dealing with Genjutsu.**

 ** _As a final overall score, the subject is given the grade_** ** _C_** ** _in the field of Genjutsu._**

 **We in the examination committee recommend a promotion to the rank of special Jonin. Alternatively, we could groom him into an ANBU-cell or one of the hunter-nin teams.**

 **Signed: Konoha examination committee leader,** **Yasahi Hiroki**

"Grooming for ANBU, ey? No thank you." Naruto muttered to himself. He was aware an announcement to gather somewhere was being made to the Genin below, but he was too consumed in his thoughts to be bothered much by it. The grades were flattering, but a few things were noticeably absent.

The theoretical tests the Sandaime had given him for instance. Actually, quite a few things had been left out. Subterfuge and stealth had not been mentioned, weapon handling and thrown accuracy had been omitted. Even though he had been tested in all those fields.

 _Not even a mention of Fuuinjutsu. Strange._

Only the three big combat skills – Ninjutsu, Taijutsu and Genjutsu – had been part of the assessment. He wondered why all of the other skills had been omitted.

Whatever the case, he was running late. The exam was about to begin, or the first introductory stage at any rate.

Naruto rose up and stared at the assessment uncaringly. He was tempted to just burn it and get rid of it. In the end, he sealed it into a scroll, but he doubted he would have any use of it.

Done with his musings, Naruto took a few steps away from the edge to get some running speed. He would have tried for a less showy entrance had the situation been any different, but, apparently, the Sandaime wanted showy.

Oh yes, the old geezer had gone as far as to instruct him to be _flashy._

A small but excited smile took hold of him, and Naruto kicked into a sprint. If the Sandaime _wanted_ flashy, then who was he to deny him?

The young Uzumaki reached the ledge and launched himself into a powerful shunshin that sent him whizzing through the air.

 **~ The Arena center ~**

Team 7 stood alongside Yuhi Kurenai's team 8, and Asuma Sarutobi's team 10. The three rookie squads had immediately huddled together upon spotting each other. A few more friendly faces in the midst of hostility made a big difference. It amused Sasuke that for some reason, a lot of the Genin present had the urge to appear menacing and hardboiled.

Just a bit off from them was a team from an unfamiliar village leaning against some of the broken down ruins that covered the island. All three were eyeing the Konoha Genin, and not in a pleasant way. There were already dozens of teams on the island, and everyone was waiting for the rules to be announced.

He glanced at his fellow rookies and former . . . classmates?

Truth be told, he'd never considered any of them as friends, so it felt wrong thinking of them like that. They were acquaintances, and he hoped they got what they wanted out of life. That said, Sasuke didn't truly care about them in any significant way, he'd never bothered to get to know any of them.

Even so, he had to admit, already a few months after their graduation from the academy, and there were notable differences in some of them.

For one, the blonde girl wasn't hanging over him like an overbearing puppy. She actually looked . . . worried. Which was good, she realized she was in a hostile area. Sasuke wasn't sure if she would have comprehended that back in the academy.

The Yamanaka clan heir stood guardedly next to her two teammates in a stance with both her arms wrapped around herself. The Akimichi boy was at her side with his customary pack of snacks, he had not changed at all. The Nara made the full trio of the team, and as always, Shikamaru looked bored despite the situation. A yawn crept up on the lazy boy, and Shikamaru halfheartedly removed a hand from one of his pockets to cover his mouth.

The Yamanaka frowned and glared at him, but said nothing. Shikamaru nearly seemed to sag in relief at that.

Sasuke was honestly curious if he was going to see the Nara actually lose his composure this time around. He doubted it.

Standing right across himself was the Aburame clan member; Sasuke thought his name was Shino. He might be wrong, but as he could count on one hand the number of times the guy had said anything in their academy years. He felt safe in saying he knew virtually nothing about him. Beside the Aburame was the Inuzuka and his pet partner.

Sasuke only barely managed to hold back a snort at the two. How the tiny dog was supposed to be any good in combat, he had no clue. However, Kiba had an unshakeable faith in his partner.

Sasuke's eyes wandered naturally to the last rookie on team 8, Hyuuga Hinata. That girl was hard to comprehend, much less get a read on.

Particularly because she had used to be so shy and timid in their first year in the academy.

Yet, that was a long time ago now. Today the Hyuuga heiress was frightening, a trait she had picked up some years ago. She wore a slim, white patterned dress, befitting of her status as the heiress to the Hyuuga clan.

A slit in the dress ran from her thigh and down the whole length to allow her mobility. Her bare feet wore some feminine, black sandals. Apparently, she noticed him studying her, and she gave him a challenging stare. Sasuke diverted his gaze quickly.

He wasn't sure what had made her do the full behavior turnaround, but he could relate somewhat. Sasuke still remembered how it was like to have a clan watch your progress with baited breath. He knew what it was like to live up to the expectations of a strict father.

There was no way Hinata would have been able to do it as a timid girl, so she had changed. End of story, at least in Sasuke's mind.

"Everyone is so tense." The sound of Kosuke's voice drove Sasuke out of his own mind. He looked around to see his former academy acquaintances attempt some conversation.

Shikamaru responded in his usual monotone. "Well yeah, there has never been an exam this big. The more people there are, the more pressure you feel. That's part of what makes crowd mentality work the way it does."

"I don't see you helping any in this situation, so don't try to be smug, Shikamaru!" Ino replied primly. _Ah, she's still the same at heart._ Sasuke realized, and watched as the two derailed into one of their typical quarrels.

"When does this start, I hate waiting. I only brought so much snacks with me, I don't wanna run out."

"Will you stop asking that, Chouji? I have no fucking clue." Kiba said with a shoulder stretch. Sasuke arched an eyebrow at that. _When did he start cursing so openly? Does he think he's cool?_

"I have told you not use that kind of language, Inuzuka." The Hyuuga heiress said clearly, and even Ino paused in her lecturing of Shikamaru at her voice.

When Hinata Hyuuga spoke, most people listened. Sasuke couldn't detect any real vitriol in her voice, but Kiba froze up a bit nonetheless. A small smirk crept onto Sasuke's face at that.

"Whipped." He enunciated clearly.

It didn't happen immediately, but eventually, a small round of laughter and chuckling began at Kiba's expense. Even Sakura and Ino succumbed for a moment. Hinata refrained from it, but a small twinkle appeared in her eyes. Kiba took it like a man and merely stood staring away with a blush.

Sasuke felt oddly good about himself after that, he had no idea why though.

Ino was the first to recover. "Ahh! That felt good, I was seriously starting to get stiff! This tension isn't good for me. Why are they staring so much!?"

The blonde threw a few looks around, and immediately wished she hadn't when her eyes met with several unsavory people.

Sakura nodded along, having shortly forgotten her feud with her rival over the laugh. "Yeah, I think it's just about to start. I wonder where Naruto is though, he's also competing today."

Sasuke blinked as something pinged in his head at that. Naruto _would_ compete, the boy had confirmed it himself yesterday. But, if his own words were to be believed, he also had no team. Also revealed yesterday, something Sasuke envied him for.

 _Was he lying? Or is it possible you don't need a team for this exam? That seems odd. Every exam hosted by Konoha has always been centered around the three man Genin squad . . . Has he gotten a team together overnight?_

"Who's . . . Naruto?" That was Ino.

Sakura smiled. "A friend. We met him by chance a few days ago. It was really lucky actually. He saved Sasuke-kun's life."

That brought on some looks. Sasuke looked away determinedly.

"Huh? What happened? Sasuke-kun almost died?!" Ino was the first to vocalize her surprise.

By now, all of the gathered rookies' attention was centered on team 7. Sasuke grumbled to himself and shoved his hands deeper into his pockets. _She just had to mention that part._

Sakura dived into an explanation of how they had run into the Suna Genin, and of Gaara's gruesome acts. She spared very few details, to Sasuke's displeasure and to the horror of the other rookies. The story also served as a warning to her friends.

"How can anyone do something like that unprovoked. . ?" Ino muttered quietly, deeply reviled.

"Someone awful." Chouji supplied. He had paused stuffing his mouth long enough to pitch in a comment. The Yamanaka girl gave him a dry look.

Kiba nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I don't wanna face that freak anytime soon. He sounded like a bad matchup."

"Ugh, this is why I don't want to be here, there's too many ridiculous opponents. It's too troublesome." Shikamaru complained.

At that, Shino gazed at the Nara in consideration.

"That is true, Nara-san, but that is the purpose, is it not? These exams are also to help us grow experienced, in addition to promote those of us worthy."

Shikamaru threw the spectacled boy a sullen look. "It's more trouble than it's worth, that's all I'm saying."

The Aburame pushed his glasses a bit further up his nose, and weighed the Nara clan heir's words carefully.

A bit of chattering began to take place. Ino was busy trying to straighten up Chouji and Kiba, whom she considered far too brutish. Shikamaru and Shino continued a back and forth discussion, but the Nara seemed more and more agitated. Kosuke and Sasuke was content to watch and not take any active part.

Sakura was standing on the sidelines as well, and was surprised when Hinata Hyuuga took a step towards her. "Sakura-san?"

"Uh, yes? What is it, Hinata?" Clearly, the Hyuuga heiress wanted something from her.

"Your story . . . Are you sure this Naruto was correct when he identified Gaara as the Kazekage's son?" Hinata asked quietly, but intently.

"Uhm, yes. I mean, Gaara seemed to admit it. How come?"

"Nothing in particular, it's just worrying. That's all." And with that, the Hyuuga heiress stepped away, much to Sakura's bewilderment.

All conversation was stopped when a loud voice, no doubt amplified several times with chakra, made itself known.

" **Attention, all Genin! The exam is about to begin. I can see that most have already correctly assumed we're starting this off on the island in the stadium. Good! Please move to the center there. The rules will be explained in details by our panel. That is all!**

Hyuuga Hinata strode off before the end of the speech, and Kiba and Shino were quick to pursue once they realized she had disappeared. The two remaining teams traded looks as the mass of Genin in the area began to move out.

Neither parties wanted to say anything, but there was a sort of understanding taking place. If they met in the exam, they would be competitors.

"Let's just follow the crowd and get to the panel." Sasuke decided, and both teams unanimously decided to walk there together. Still allies for the moment.

 **xXx**

Morino Ibiki looked on as more and more Genin gathered at the open stretch of grass in front of him. Most came walking into the big clearing, some a bit leery at the sudden lack of cover. A few people, Ibiki noted bemusedly, came out of the scenery like cockroaches out of woodwork. Sliding down the stone constructs, and strutting down the vertical walls like it was nothing. A few utilized the Shunshin to appear in the midst of the clearing, a small power play Ibiki found even more amusing.

The commanding officer of Konoha's torture and interrogation force studied the aspiring Chunin as they moved up toward him and the rest of the panel. _Seems we_ _have some quality crop here today. It would make sense of the other nations to bring the best this year. Those not up to par won't last long._

Things would become interesting very quickly now. Heck, Orochimaru's agents were probably standing somewhere right ahead of him, Ibiki's scarred face scrunched up in slight frustration. _They're probably looking at me smugly right now._

None of the Genin dared step any closer to the panel, where the gruesome looking Konoha Jonin stood at point. In comparison to him, the other Jonin's beside him lacked presence.

Morino chided himself for the slight slip up. He had to maintain a more collected façade. All the attention was on him now, and nothing was guaranteed to go on rails. A certain level cunning and self-control was necessary to orchestrate the exams to Konoha's benefit. The Hokage had picked him for this job specifically with that in mind.

"Will you do the honors then, Ibiki-san? You are the proctor of these Exams after all."

Ibiki gave the frivolous man to his right a piercing look. He was one of the judges. _What are the odds of him being a mole sent by Orochimaru? It's not zero, I don't care if Anko thinks I'm paranoid._

Ibiki wrestled his eyes back from the judge, and took half a step forwards. The small wooden podium beneath him creaked.

"Come on, don't dawdle! We don't have all day, move up so everyone can hear me clearly. There's _two-hundred_ Genin competing here this year! The front has to move up so the backline can hear me."

The group moved up to the wooden platform albeit slowly and reluctantly. Many stares were drawn to a massive object situated behind the rickety wooden platform. No one could tell what it was however, as it was completely covered by a white fabric.

Ibiki continued to make good use of his heavy baritone voice. "Good! Now, My name is Morino Ibiki, and I will be your proctor for the first stage of this exam. I'm sure you're excited to participate, and I will explain the first test in a moment, but first, I have some announcements."

Ibiki paused for a moment.

"Firstly: allow me to introduce our judges. The panel, if you will."

Everyone looked on in silence as Ibiki kept talking. "Each member of the panel has been selected to give you a fair evaluation of the first stage of the exam. You might have noticed their headbands, there is one judge from each of the big five nations. I will represent Konoha as judge. This is purely to avoid claims of favoritism; although I'm sure you'll come up with some complaints anyway."

A few weak chuckles began at that last line, but a share of the gathered Genin stared hard at the judges. There were no representatives from the lesser nations, and they seemed to be taking it poorly. Ibiki spent no time dawdling before moving on.

"Secondly: And I'll be blunt here. We're gonna break up your teams."

The instantaneous outcry was powerful, and Ibiki allowed them a few seconds of outrage.

"Quiet! This exam will have a team-based test of sorts, yes, but you're not going to face it with the team you came here with. Instead, you'll have to learn how to cooperate with someone else, someone you don't know. A swift adaption into your new, temporary team will be the key to victory. The teams who can overcome their differences and work together towards a mutual goal will win. Those who are unable to set aside their petty squabbles will lose, plain and simple."

That tirade seemed to mute the most zealous of the bunch, but there was still a fair share of angry comments being thrown around.

"And lastly: Let me introduce you to your victory condition for the first phase. You may have noticed the big object behind us. Well, let's have a look." Ibiki gave a nod, and the closest judge was quick to unravel the object.

Now revealed, an enormous blackboard stood erect in-between two wooden support beams. The thing was three times the usual classroom sized blackboard. Written on it, in large block letters and neat tidy lines, were names.

"Oi . . . what's that?"

"It's a blackboard?"

"What? Wait, I don't get it, that's our victory condition?"

"Hey! It's got my name on it!"

"Really? Can you see mine?"

More voices began to bubble up, and the squabbles became difficult for Ibiki to drown out with his own voice. Ibiki paused however, when he felt a chakra disturbance some distance away, but approaching rapidly. _Something's coming?_

The interrogation specialist looked up warily. _An attack so soon? It can't be . . ?_

A formless blur shot over the crowd and promptly slammed into one of the large statues on the outskirts of the clearing. Surprised shouts immediately followed. The impact had enough force behind it to tip over the statue, a small quake in the ground caused even further uproar among the Genin.

Most turned quiet when the earlier blur revealed itself to have been a boy. He wore a dark shinobi outfit, and was equipped for battle going by his many pouches and readily available thrown weapons. He sported no sign of allegiance to any village or country, and his color neutral outfit only added weight to that observation.

Naruto skipped off the fallen statue in a smooth motion and walked into the field with a light step. He turned his head to the panel and those clearly in charge.

"Hey, I heard there was an exam here? I hope I'm not too late, I lost track of time and well, I tried to get here fast. Sorry." Naruto spoke loudly to be heard over the small din of whispers. He managed to ignore the looks and gazes people gave him.

Ibiki relaxed his stance minutely when he realized there was no attack. Instead, there was a boy in front of him, and he was expectantly waiting for an answer. Some of the crowd was actually gaping at his ridiculous statement.

Ibiki released a small sigh. _That was not the power level of a Genin, he shouldn't be here._ "Who are you, kid? Unless your name is on that blackboard, you're not going to compete."

"I'm sure it's up there somewhere. I was invited like everyone else here." Naruto answered self-assuredly. "Please keep going, I didn't mean to interrupt anything."

Ibiki narrowed his eyes at the annoying young boy. The kid was a complete wildcard, and he hated that. The interrogation specialist hadn't the faintest idea of where the boy was from and who he was. Ibiki only knew one thing; the kid was overqualified for the exam. His choice of entry had revealed that much.

Those things alone warranted suspicion. He didn't care if the kid's name had gotten on the list of participants, if he could stop him from competing he would . . . Well, maybe there was a way.

" . . . Brat. You're late, you've already destroyed some of the arena grounds, and you've interrupted my speech. I hope you understand we can't let this slide."

"Of course you can. You just let it slide." Naruto replied stubbornly, and Ibiki bit down hard at the pompous reaction. At this point, the crowd of Genin were watching the two with rapt attention.

Ibiki smiled with gritted teeth, this was an overconfident moron of a boy. He was going to remain stubborn to the very end, Ibiki had an idea that might just do the job for him.

"Well, I'm a gracious man. I will give you a chance to remain in the exam." Ibiki turned his attention back to the crowd for a moment. "The last of our preparations are being finalized out there, in the meantime, I'm going to issue a test right here. Consider it free entertainment, or a warning."

"A test? Just for me?" Naruto asked, caught a bit off-guard at the sudden development.

The division leader smiled again, but it only looked grotesque on him. "Yes, for you only. A test, if you lose it I'll simply wipe your name of off this board and be done with you."

Naruto looked at the man with expressionless eyes. "And if I win?"

"I'll allow you to compete." Ibiki responded as if no better reward existed.

"In other words." Naruto took a few more steps towards the panel of judges. "I have no choice but to accept your test."

"That's right. Take it or leave it." Ibiki smiled st him, completely uncaring.

The two stared each other down for a few silent seconds.

"Well, then." Naruto finally said. "Let's get started."

 **A/N And there we're done. The longest chapter as of yet, clocked in at 10 k words. I'll proof read it more thoroughly later. I'm pretty happy with it, but I feel the next piece is going to blow this one out of the water, I have so many good scenes in mind. Either way, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

 **Follow the story and stick around for more chapters, write a small review if you want to leave a comment for me. Thanks.**

 **Some of you wanted to know my update schedule, and that warms my heart but honestly, not even** ** _I_** **know when I'll update. It will happen, That's all I can say.**

 **The Epic Pen, signing off.**


	6. A Test For The Uzumaki

**A/N Hey folks. I'm back after months of hibernation. The next chapter will be just as slow in the making as this one, I'm sorry to say. Problem is, I got a fulltime job. I also recently started a hardcore exercise and diet program – no sugar, kill me please – and I'm also studying for an exam that's gonna take place on the 26/05 of 2017. Point is, I have little recreation time, so the next chapter will probably not be out anytime soon, give it a couple of months.**

 **Yeah, I know, I'm a slow writer. I like to blame it on the language barrier, but really, I'm not so sure anymore.**

 **Anyways, a cool thing you sometimes get to do when you write a story, is that you mess something up. Why is that cool, you may ask? Well, it forces you to get smart and write yourself out of that hole you unknowingly dug yourself into. I had to do some damage control in this chapter, which was fun times for me.**

 **Other fixed things and thanks to some excellent reviews:**

 **A big thanks to 'The Sailor Earth' for pointing out my preconceived notions about the Japanese tanto. FYI, a tanto is never longer than 30 cm, or 11,8 inches. We're getting smarter folks, we're learning here. I'll do some more research on the weapons in Naruto as this story progresses.**

 **To my great shame, I somehow mixed up Ibiki's name last chapter and misspelled it for most the time. It was quickly corrected, fortunately.**

 **Next up, a big thanks to 'InARealPickle', who gave some critique on my writing and how to improve. As someone who writes English as a second language, it's** _ **very**_ **hard to discover my own mistakes. I appreciate the help immensely.**  
 **He also very smartly explained to me how Japanese nouns doesn't work the same way English nouns does. Cough* I've been doing things wrong for a while now. I've gone back and corrected many of my ghastly mistakes. So, yippee for that. Protip: Ninjutsu is correct. Ninjutsu's is never correct.**

 **General quality of life changes to many segments has been done. You don't have to go back and reread anything, I simply cleaned up my story a bit.**

 **Okay, this has already gotten very lengthy, so let's get on with it. Thanks for the reviews. They were great! Now. Read on!**

Legacy Ascending

A test for the Uzumaki

 **~ Noon – Center Island of the arena ~**

Naruto gave the proctor of the exam one of his more unfriendly looks, but Ibiki had already disregarded him in favor of facing the crowd.

Despite his confident reply earlier, Naruto honestly didn't want to take any mock test.

It was obvious that Ibiki suspected him of . . . something. The man had probably surmised he was an agent of Orochimaru's, and this 'test' was just an orchestrated attempt to have him removed from the exam.

Yeah, that seemed probable. He did knock down the decorations after all. Naruto threw a glance at the toppled human statue to his side. It was five times the size of an average person. Hardly worth bragging about, but whatever.

He crossed his arms and looked at the scarred Konoha Jonin with glassy eyes. The man was explaining the finer details of the exam, but Naruto was only listening with half an ear. His mind was busy trying to work itself around the unexpected problem.

 _At least he's giving me some time to think while he's explaining all the necessities._

Naruto slid a hand into an inner pocket on his shinobi garb. His fingers lightly wrapped around a small wooden object – unique in its contours. The Hokage had given it to him earlier that morning. The order was to subtly give it to the exam proctor without anyone noticing. Other than the proctor, of course. It was the preplanned way of establishing contact with him.

They were supposed to work together for the length of the exam.

It was a shame, because planting the object on the obviously suspicious man was not something he could push ahead with at the moment. If Naruto had the situation correctly deduced, Ibiki was suspecting him as one of Orochimaru's moles in the exam. The man looked far too distrustful to approach right now, much less plant an object on.

"-So, yes. You must sign an agreement shortly, pure formality. We don't want to get blamed for any injuries or deaths-" The proctor continued from the podium, while Naruto jumped from one thought to the other.

He could only think of a few examples where he could plant the object from a distance, but all of them were equally risky. He didn't dare entrust the job to a clone.

Naruto was in a bind, and the setup now seemed even more haphazard and thoughtless than it did earlier when the Sandaime had explained it. He and the proctor were supposed to be allies, but now Naruto had to approach him as an enemy.

The blonde sucked in a long breath and it helped quell his frustration with the old geezer in the Hokage tower.

 _Why wouldn't he give me and Ibiki a file of each other beforehand? That alone would have deterred this exact situation. I swear, if it's because he doesn't want to reveal my heritage then this is starting to get ridiculous._

Some kind of sign would have made everything a lot easier. Although it struck him that Hiruzen might have made things difficult simply to _challenge_ him. The old man seemed to love it when he struggled. Maybe this was just another test. As absurd as that was, Naruto couldn't rule it out either.

Looking at the scarred proctor gesturing from the podium, Naruto couldn't say he liked his chances taking the test, whatever it was. Even so, the only way to avoid that outcome was to somehow get Ibiki's trust, but planting the object on him would require some kind of plan or distraction.

 _The scarred baldy won't even make it a halfway fair test, and having him as an ally will be important down the line . . ._

Naruto took a quick peek at the people closest to him while his mind churned. They appeared absorbed in Ibiki's speech, but Naruto noticed how no one seemed to want to get too close to him. There was a literal circle around him where people didn't stand, and he hadn't really done anything noteworthy yet.

"-of the victory condition, what I mean is this: The first stage of this exam will be over when there's only twenty names left on that blackboard."

Naruto perked up at that interesting bit of information. An elimination game would suit him. In fact, it was probably the best-case scenario. Of course, he had to clear Ibiki's rigged test first.

"-Now, we're going to have you sign these disclaimers I mentioned earlier. We'll begin calling names now, if you hear yours simply get up on the podium here. But first: You there. The blondie, get up here."

Ibiki finished by staring straight at Naruto, who blinked out of his introspective state of mind.

 _Time's up, huh?_

A few people stepped away to clear a path for him. A noticeable quiet settled down when he stepped forward.

"Right." He muttered inaudibly, and his heart began beating faster. This could be an opportunity.

He unclenched his hands and glanced up at the Konoha Jonin, trying hard not to reveal his thoughts. He quickly ascended the makeshift wooden steps that led up to the podium.

Naruto spared the other judges a short glance each. Two shinobi and two kunoichi. As battle hardened and menacing as they appeared in their combat attires, they lacked presence standing next to Konoha's bulky proctor.

Naruto made sure to direct his question directly to him.

"Where do you want my signature? I presume you want it before you put me through this test of yours." His voice came out normal, but his throat felt somewhat constricted.

"Naturally . . . Huh, it seems you're actually on the list under the name 'Naruto', no last name. Make sure to sign this with your surname, I won't accept it otherwise." The scarred man grunted. "When we get all the formalities taken care of, I'll have your test issued."

Ibiki gestured to a large stack of identical forms lying on a workbench behind the judges. It looked out of place on the podium.

"Do you have a pen?" Naruto asked and stretched out a hand in a vain hope.

The Konoha proctor moved a hand to his pocket, but then stopped. "There are pens by the papers." He answered.

Naruto struggled to keep his frustration from showing, but he turned to sign under the disclaimer. Even in that situation, a small part of him was pleased to put down his mother's family name onto paper.

Naruto finished his signature with a flourish and rolled up the paper. With some sleight of hand action, he was able to slide a small object inside the rolled-up disclaimer in a smooth motion no one seemed to notice.

A feat he was immensely proud of, he was the first candidate up on the podium and all eyes were on him.

The scarred Konoha Jonin was busy calling out names from a list by now, but Naruto summoned some courage and stepped up to him.

"Here." He told the man in a way that clearly demanded attention.

Morino Ibiki paused in his name-calling to look at the young shinobi behind him. His gaze made Naruto feel like a bug, or something equally insignificant. He tried hard to not let that affect him.

"What is it now? Turn in the signature with-"

"Actually, I want you to take this." Naruto cut him off mid-sentence, and held out the rolled-up disclaimer. Ibiki, about to give a negative response, was surprised when Naruto cut him off again.

"Take this, and have a good look at my name. I want you to know who I am when I beat the test." _Just fucking take it._ Was added in Naruto's own head.

The Jonin regarded him impassively for a short moment, before stuffing the outstretched paper into a back pocket.

"Get off the platform, brat." The proctor then turned to continue announce names as if Naruto didn't exist.

The young Uzumaki reluctantly walked off the wooden structure with a stiff countenance. He only absentmindedly took note of a Genin with long dark hair and pale eyes passing him by to sign her disclaimer. _Unless the proctor takes out that paper and has a look at it, the situation isn't going to change, unfortunately._

There was a chance he would have to rely on himself. He just hoped the proctor was underestimating him.

Back on the clearing, Naruto found that thinking of what his test would be was an exercise in futility. Instead, he made it a point to observe his fellow competitors as he walked around the clearing aimlessly. It was a bit awkward, as most of the candidates stood stock still and was warily observing him. But he managed to ignore that for the most part.

He did spot a few interesting characters, and some familiar faces. The Kiri team was confidently meeting his eye when he passed them by. They were unafraid and intrigued. Like wolves paying respect to a fellow predator amid a sheep flock. He added them to his mental list of people to watch.

A bit later he was amused when he bumped into someone he recognized. Literarily.

"Ouf! Watch where you're going jerk!"

Naruto stared at the girl who had run into him for the second time now.

A small distraction was very welcome, so Naruto replied with some sarcasm. "How right you are, I _should_ be held accountable when people randomly walk straight into my side out of nowhere. Or when they run down the stairs. Yes, I'm clearly the one at fault."

He had a hard time holding back his smile at her annoyed expression. Her odd pink eyes did a poor job at conveying anger.

"You can fuck off! I don't care if you think you're the greatest Genin walking the earth-"

"I'm not really a Genin."

"-You think anyone cares if you can knock over a slab of rock!?"

"Well, it was pretty heavy."

"You're an idiot!"

"Really?"

"Yes! The moment you fuck up during the proctor's test you're going to realize it too!"

"I think you might have an insecurity problem."

"Fuck you." She told him, suddenly very calm.

"Anatomically speaking, that would be-"

"Will you shut up!?" She cried before storming off, back to furious in a 180° turn.

He really tried not to laugh at her retreating form, but he failed in that venture. Tsuchikage's granddaughter or not, she was a hothead.

He walked on and managed to stay away from Sabaku no Gaara when he saw the Suna siblings standing a few paces away. Naruto had avoided the red-haired psychopath for the last few days and right now was not the time to spark a confrontation with him. He had not forgotten him though, he still had to check his seal for defects.

He gave a wave to Sasuke and Sakura when he spotted them next to some other Konoha Genin. They looked very standoffish, so he didn't stop to chat. By that time, the name-calling was over anyways. Ibiki had made it evident he had no patience for stragglers. Naruto stepped a bit closer to the panel and looked on as Konoha's proctor put away his list and looked across the crowd of Genin.

"Good! Now, this first phase of the exam will last for a week at most, but I doubt you'll last that long. I guess it depends on how resilient you are. During this week, you can drop out of the exam at any time."

Ibiki folded his hands behind his back and looked sternly at the crowd.

"If you fail your objective, you're out. If you become incapable of continuing, you're out. If you somehow break the rules, you're out. Any of these things happen, your name will be wiped off this blackboard here, and you won't be able to continue advancing."

A slight pause.

"Of course, you can also choose to give up anytime, even during a test, which means immediate failure. Keep in mind there's not always going to be someone ready to get you out of harm's way the second you give up during a test. Think carefully before you make a decision."

Ibiki let his words sink in yet again.

"Like I said earlier, only twenty of you get to advance to the second stage. That doesn't mean you can't get a promotion here, we will be scouting for anyone with talent, so impress us with what you can do. That about sums it up, the first test of the exam will begin sometime in the next hour. You're free to prepare or relax as you please until then, but don't be absent when we begin. I will cross out your name."

Ibiki looked across the clearing, his eyes were scouring after something.

"In the meantime, there's a defiant youngster here who has to pass a test. Let's get that underway, it might be amusing to watch while the preparations of the exam are being finalized."

He gave a slight cough to clear his throat.

"Let me introduce you to some assistants of mine. They will handle a great deal of the actual tests this week."

The proctor brought two fingers to his mouth and whistled loudly.

Two humanoid shapes suddenly whizzed into existence below the podium. Two near perfect shunshin.

One male and one female. The woman had a fitted mesh suit covering her from the neck and all the way down to her thighs. She also wore a tanned overcoat and a brown mini skirt which helped conceal her indecency. The outfit was still revealing, a lot of the males were probably getting a kick out of her arrival.

The man by her side was an odd sight, he looked sickly and out of place next to the woman who seemed to be near bursting with energy. He wore a standard shinobi flak jacket, but Naruto took note of the katana on his hip.

"Hello everyone! I am the sexy and irresistible Mitarashi Anko, and you're lucky enough to have me as one of your test supervisors this week!" This introduction was accompanied by a few suggestive hand motions. One of the guys beside him did a sudden air intake. A team member of his quickly bonked him on the head for that.

"Nice to meet you, I am Hayate Gekko, I will be your test supervisor for parts of this exam, pleased to meet you." Hayate said in a calm monotone, but he began coughing at the end of his introduction.

The female supervisor quickly drowned that out. "Now, I heard we have a rebel here, so I'm just going to take care of him for ya all. Will the bad boy step up?"

Naruto did as she asked without fussing and began to wade through the masses of Genin. It seemed these two were issuing the test. _Is that good, or bad?_

"He the guy?" The mesh suit clad supervisor asked when Naruto stopped in front of the podium. Her dark hair was set up into an orderly mess he could appreciate, the brown eyes she focused on him made him uncomfortable though.

"Yes. Let's get this over with." The proctor responded.

Mitarashi nodded contently. "Okay folks! Here's what's gonna happen! The center of this clearing will be empty in the next minute, anyone other than me and bad boy here still standing in this clearing after that get their names crossed of off the blackboard." All of this was said stoically, but she finished her tirade with a smile and a cute: "Simple, right?"

Everyone was spurred into motion by that, it only took half a minute before there was a sizeable empty area in the middle of the clearing. Naruto was impressed.

"Good! You listen, that bodes well for you!" Anko called out loudly. "Now, you're all welcome to sit on the sidelines and watch if you will. I don't recommend standing to close, thrown weapons or a stray Jutsu could hit you, but it's allowed. Just don't get in the way, because I am about to issue a test here, you got that?"

Slowly, the various Genin trickled further away to give better room, most stopped when they hit the tree line. A few disappeared into the undergrowth, uninterested in the commotion taking place.

"Great!" She called out exuberantly. "Take this as an opportunity to learn!"

The proctor made an impatient motion with his hand from the podium, "get it on with, Anko."

"Shush you!" She answered, then she gave Naruto a look that was almost sympathetic, but not quite. "You ready, kid?"

Naruto turned his head to look at the scarred man. "Did you read my name yet, proctor-san?"

"I'm waiting to see if it's worth my time."

 _Of course you did._

He turned back to the Kunoichi. "Yeah, go ahead Mitarashi-san."

"Okay, kid! Your test will be to fight me!" She called out loud enough for anyone in the vicinity to hear.

 _How simple._

"But we're going to do coinflips first." She held up a simple Ryo.

"Okay. . ." He prodded. _Maybe not?_

"If the coin hits head, we fight only using Taijutsu. If it hits tails, we only use Ninjutsu. In the rare event that it lands on its edge, I'll allow everything. You following? If you break these rules you lose instantly."

"I follow." That was actually an interesting rule.

"Good. This test will consist of three rounds, and we're gonna do a coinflip for each round. Each round is worth one point, the one with most points in the end wins. If you make it to the end that is."

"Okay, what determines the winner of each round?"

"Well, each round should last for a set amount of time, say a minute? During that time your goal will be to subdue me in whatever field the coin lands in, if you can do it, you win the round. If neither of us manages to take down the other, then the judges will decide on who did better. They'll make a vote and the one with most votes gets the point for that round. Let's not make this unnecessarily complicated."

Naruto nodded along. _Ibiki will give Anko the vote every time he gets the chance, so it's better to subdue her and bypass the vote system entirely. Even so, it's not a completely hopeless case if I must rely on the votes. If the other four judges are unbiased that is. Essentially, I need three out of the four votes to win a round._

Naruto gave the supervisor a look. _It's probably best to subdue her though, but how good is she?_

"Couple questions, can we use weapons and equipment when the coin hits heads? Taijutsu in other words."

Anko paused to think that over. "No, it complicates things. No equipment or weapons at all. Pure Taijutsu only if it lands on heads."

"Then, is it okay to bolster yourself with chakra in our Taijutsu contests?"

"Well, yes, chakra is an important facet of Taijutsu, so that's allowed. But no Ninjutsu of course. We'll consider this a competitive spar, no lethal force. If you do, I'll come right back at you. That sounds fine?"

"Okay . . . I think I understand this then. I'm ready to begin whenever."

She gave him a slight look over. "You're good at coping, that's nice. Maybe you'll be worth my time." She finished the sentence with a weird tongue flick over her lips.

Naruto smiled a bit. _You're about to find out._

Without sermon, she knelt and formed a small earth protrusion through a Jutsu he was unfamiliar with. Naruto looked on unalarmed.

She stood back up, content with the mound of dirt almost level with his waist now lying in-between them. "I'll make the coin land on this dirt pile, so be prepared for it." She explained.

"Once the coin lands, we begin the round. Hayate will referee the match. Got it?"

The sickly man positioned himself to the side and in-between them. He looked ready to keel over in Naruto's honest opinion.

"Yeah." Naruto lowered his center of gravity ever so slightly. He was trying to rack up as much Ninjutsu knowledge as he could muster.

She gave him an excited look. "Here goes. Three. Two. One."

She flicked the coin into the air, where it spun and reflected a few golden sunrays.

It hit the mound with an unceremonious _thump_.

 **xXx**

The rookie teams of Konoha stood at the edge of the clearing among a growing number of Genin. There was little talk, only the occasional hushed whisper. Everyone was observing the two figures out on the grassy field.

The group listened as the test supervisor explained the test in a loud and confident voice.

"You think he can do it?" Kosuke murmured.

"It depends on the supervisor." Sasuke replied. "She doesn't look like a Chunin."

"She looks more like a Jonin, yes." Shikamaru added in from his spot between Choji and Ino. "If they're supposed to fight, I don't see how he can beat her. It's an inherently unfair matchup. But maybe the judges take that into consideration?"

"Doubt it." Said Sasuke.

"Isn't it just good for us if he gets disqualified here? Then we don't have to deal with him later." Kiba commented.

"He saved Sasuke-kun's life!" Sakura returned hotly, to which Kiba gave a lopsided smile. "A real shame that."

Sakura gasped.

"No one appreciates a joke like that, Inuzuka-san." Hinata's tone of voice was cold, and Kiba felt implored to give the Hyuuga heiress a nod.

"It's about to start guys." Choji announced, his fingers scratching at the bottom of his bag of chips.

The two on the field stood coiled and ready to burst into action. The supervisor did a coinflip. The rookies stared at the falling Ryo.

It hit a small and elevated flat mound, and in the same instant the supervisor bolted ahead in an impressive display of speed. She moved at a speed far out of reach for most Chunin. The boy – Naruto – seemed overwhelmed.

He looked unprepared and slow, a bit stiff in his first movements maybe. The scantily clad supervisor was upon him in an instant. She attacked with a peculiar Taijutsu form. The blonde teen moved out of the way of the first strike, and he somehow managed to erect a flimsy block for the second one, but it was apparent he was losing badly.

The woman stepped in closer, a condescending smile on her face.

Unexpectedly, the blond boy also leaned in without preamble.

Slightly alarmed, Anko struck at him with intensity. _Oops, that might have been excessive._

Very few people saw it clearly, but Naruto passed underneath her arm with a sudden burst of speed that surprised everyone.

Now inside her guard, Naruto discovered he was tall enough to ram his knee forcefully into her solar plexus.

Anko gasped breathlessly and her body scrunched up.

Never pausing in his movements, Naruto slammed a two-finger strike into the crevices of her ribs, before he spun and delivered a merciless roundhouse kick to her face.

She hit the ground hard. To her credit, she hurriedly rolled into a squat, eyes a bit wild. Naruto observed calmly from a standstill, but on the inside, he was pleased. It had been a bit of a gamble to try and trick and surprise her like that. His skin pricked with adrenaline.

Hayate was looking at him strangely.

A long drawn out whistle from one of the spectators ended the silence, and whispers broke out.

"He's not an idiot . . . That was tactical, he targeted some crippling spots too." Nara Shikamaru was the first to say anything in the rookie group. "Not to mention his ridiculous burst of speed there, I didn't think that was possible for someone our age." His little analysis brought the rest of the rookies out of their stupefied stares.

"Just how good is he?" Muttered Sasuke, a tint of frustration in his voice.

"I've only ever seen Kakashi move that fast . . . " Sakura breathed.

Everyone became quiet again when the dark-haired supervisor stilted herself back up on her feet. Her nose was bleeding, and she was very clearly favoring one side over the other. The pain from the two-finger strike was showing, it was a bit of a low blow, Naruto knew that.

Finger strikes are meant to cause a lot of pain and debilitate a person that way, it was an excellent option for attacking the throat and neck, but it could also sneak in-between the ribs and do some serious damage. He was not above using it, then again, getting kneed in the solar plexus wasn't exactly pleasant either.

 _Ibiki cornered me, so I've got to take every advantage I can. And since everyone keeps underestimating me . . ._

Surprisingly, her expression was not hurt, but serene. Her breath was a bit ragged, and there was a different kind of intensity to her eyes from earlier. She looked even more dangerous now, like a lion whose tail had been yanked. And yanked a bit too hard.

Maybe this had been a bad idea.

She let out a wheezing laugh. "You fucked that up kid." Her voice was amused.

 _What's she on about? And am I still just a kid to her?_

"You shouldn't have stopped. That kick to the face was a kindness compared to what I would have done. Nice behavior like that is going to get you killed."

Naruto blinked. "Maybe, but I'm worth your time now, right?"

That made her blink. "Yes, yes you are." She replied and wiped some blood off her face, unfortunately the nosebleed didn't stop. She didn't seem to care.

"Beating your ass will be time well spent, and our time isn't up yet."

 _I have to move quickly, she looks ready to kill me._

"There's only 17 seconds left." Hayate announced.

Naruto immediately snapped into the stance of 'river cuts the reed'. His feet shifting into place just as Jiraiya had taught him years ago, and not a moment too soon.

Despite the crippling blows from earlier, Anko moved like she was fresh out the shower. She was already in front of him.

She opened the assault by going for his midsection. Naruto deflected her with a knife-hand strike which he turned into a grapple, he whirled around and tried to dislocate her left arm, but Anko slithered out of his grasp through an odd maneuver he had no idea how the human body was even capable of.

 _She's like a fucking snake!_

Spinning once more, Naruto performed a compact horse kick directed at her gut. Despite the close quarters Anko slid out of the way again and threw out a fast kick of her own. Naruto held up a block and winced when it hit, he was rapidly coming to understand conventional Taijutsu did him no good here. Her follow up palm strike was redirected, but this time she was the one who grabbed hold of him.

She pulled and twisted his arm. Staying calm, Naruto struck at her jugular with his free arm in a precise knife hand attack. He'd been quick enough, and Anko let go of his arm to grab and stop his attack. They were practically wrapped up in each other now, but Naruto took a page out of her book and shot out an elbow strike aimed at her temple.

Anko bashed his attack aside with one arm and managed to slither in a follow up strike to his abdomen. It carried some force behind it, despite the small wind up.

Had that hit him just a year earlier, he would have gone down like a sack of potatoes. Luckily, it hit him today, and although most of the air in him left in one big wheeze, he remained standing.

Anko however, struck again without pause, a blow to his head this time. He barely dodged, and he realized he was in a rougher shape than first anticipated. Now oxygen deprived, Naruto took a step back and sluggishly changed stance, but Anko had no intention of giving him space.

A fist snuck past his guard and nailed his shoulder, which became unresponsive. _Just a couple seconds left now, it can't be much longer._

Another strike got him in his side and it very nearly made him dry heave. His thoughts turned desperate. _What do I do here? What_ _ **can**_ _I do!?_

One of those annoying elbow strikes forced up his guard and left him completely open. He met her ferocious eyes for an instant, and time seemed to slow down.

An old man's voice buzzed somewhere in the back of his head. _Dig deep kid! Dig deep and rise back up!_

The act was unconscious, but he shifted his footing. He wanted to make the voice shut up. The test supervisor was closing in to finish him off, she had a grin plastered on her face.

With no clever ideas, Naruto went with his instinct and simply leaned in and focused the rest of his strength into one last effort.

A distant voice called "Time!" Just as an explosion of pain washed over him.

It took a him a few steady breaths before he came back to himself, and a couple more to realize he was lying in a clearing and what he was doing there. His head hurt, it ached with each heartbeat. The kunoichi knew her stuff. He took a steadying breath and began the arduous task of rising.

It took considerable effort, but it wouldn't do to appear weak. Now back on his feet, someone was trying to get his attention. The male supervisor probably, but his ears were ringing.

Instead of trying to listen, Naruto slowly put one foot in front of the other and walked back to the mound where he picked up the Ryo innocently lying there. He had probably lost that round, but he had to look forward, worrying was useless.

An idea was taking shape in his mind, and that gave him confidence his head was still up and running.

"I'll flip it this time." His voice came out jumbled, and his tongue stumbled on the last word.

He recognized the tan overcoat that stopped in front of him. It was a bit blurry though.

"Stop that silly. Did you even notice you're vision impaired right now?"

Naruto raised a hand to touch his eye, and was a bit surprised when it came down wet with blood.

"No." He replied truthfully. _I got hit harder than I thought._

He could still see with the eye, but it gave him a foggy vision. A sinewy stream of blood dripped into his eyelashes from a narrow cut above his left eye. He must have made a dreadful sight. Instead of trying to stem the bleeding, he swiveled the gaze of his good eye to the supervisor.

He noticed some discoloration on her face. "Did I do that?"

"Yeah. Didn't see it coming, I'm shocked you got to me twice in one round. Might have cost me the round that last exchange." She grinned, but stopped when her bruised cheek began to hurt.

The buzz of voices all around him was finally getting through the ringing in his head. Many of the Genin were talking excitedly.

"Seems like they enjoyed the show." He muttered.

"Of course, even _I_ enjoyed that spar, it was awesome." She gave him a look he recognized, one of curiosity. Unlike other times when people wanted to know about him, this time it was a mutual feeling. She was an oddball.

He was pleasantly surprised when she didn't ask him anything personal. "You look out of sorts though, maybe you can get yourself a bit patched up. I don't want the next round to be stale. The judges aren't done arguing anyways. Sit down a bit, okay?"

"Mhm." He murmured in consent and lowered himself down to his knees. Giving him recuperation time was a bad move, but he wasn't going to complain. He dug out a scroll from his Fuuinjutsu compartment affixed to his hip. After unsealing it, he immediately took a big gulp from the water bottle that appeared. He closed his eyes in relaxation and took an occasional sip of water.

He had to face the unpleasant fact lurking in the back of his head. Just like Kakashi, she was better than him when it came to Taijutsu. If the coin hit heads again . . .

"Want me to fetch someone to look at you?" Anko asked.

"What happened to 'nice behavior like that is gonna get you killed?" He asked quietly without opening his eyes.

"Difference is, I can afford to be nice from time to time, unlike you." She answered, but said nothing further.

"Are you underestimating me again?" He wondered aloud.

"Maybe." He could hear her smile.

Time passed, and Naruto let the buzzing of distant conversation wash over him. A minute passed, then another one ticked by. He could feel the skin on his forehead scratch, a sign he had learned to recognize as the Kyuubi's chakra doing its thing. The bleeding had nearly stopped altogether.

"Looks like they're done." Anko announced.

Naruto nodded slowly, and cleaned off some of the blood on his face with last of the water. He rose back up and turned towards the podium just as Ibiki was stepping forth to make an announcement. The judges behind him looked conflicted.

"The first round, with three out of five votes goes to . . ."

"Mitarashi Anko!" He declared loudly.

The Genin on the outskirts took that with both groans and excited shouts. Bets had been made apparently.

"Huh, tough luck kid."

 _I'm gonna make her stop calling me kid by the end of this, I swear._

"It's okay, I'll win the next two." He responded. He might have to reveal some of his strengths, but the way things were going he didn't have much choice.

"Confident, ey? You're ready to go then?" She asked and gave his forehead an examining glance. She frowned, the cut was nowhere near as bad as it had been only minutes before.

"Of course," he turned to her and threw his water bottle away. He made sure to make the action look haphazard, when it was anything but. "I'll do the coinflip this time then."

He held up the Ryo.

"Just do it already. I'm anxious to kick your ass again." She told him and moved into her spot behind the mound.

A silence settled over the field when people noticed the two moving into position.

He gave her a nod and aimed his arm down at the mound. Anko frowned at his odd stance, it looked like he was aiming the Ryo like a projectile.

He would lose if he didn't win the next two in a row, and Anko would likely win another Taijutsu round.

It made things obvious in Naruto's mind, she never specified how to do the coinflip.

He counted down calmly like she had done before. "Three. Two. One."

The coin was launched from his hand with a powerful chakra empowered flick. It burrowed itself halfway into the dirt, effectively standing on edge.

" _. . . In the rare event that it lands on its edge, I'll allow everything."_

Naruto stared for half a second in wonder, surprised it had actually worked. He recovered a split second faster than Anko, who was frowning at the coin.

He flipped through two rapid hand signs and disappeared in his fastest Kawarimi. An empty water bottle dropped to the ground in his place.

 _I'll end this . . ._

He reappeared behind the woman with a wakizashi already unsealed and equipped. Anko began to spin around.

 _Right now!_

Naruto stepped in and thrusted the slim mini-katana forward with his right arm.

The execution had been close to flawless, but Anko still managed to narrowly sidestep it.

He had been counting on that. Her eyes bulged slightly when Naruto snapped out his left hand and a tanto tore through a small cloud of smoke.

Anko held out a long-sleeved coat arm, and four thick snakes burst out of it like confetti out of a box. They were already too close to avoid. Suddenly desperate, Naruto channeled his wind chakra and hurriedly sliced the air with his tanto. The extended wind blade cut through the reptiles cleanly, and they went up in smoke.

Anko came through the smoke armed with a simple kunai in a reverse grip.

Without pausing Naruto resealed both weapons back into his tattoos, before unsealing a different one. It took him half a second.

The shock this time around wasn't so great, but she had no way of escaping his sudden reach. Now holding a long bō staff, Naruto swiped at her with both hands. He almost got her in the temple, but she somehow managed to bring up the kunai to deflect some of the blow. The staff slid of the small blade and hit her in the back of the skull.

Naruto changed his grip on the bō staff and pressed his advantage by thrusting the butt of the staff at her torso. She bashed it aside, but the action likely bruised her hand. Going with the momentum, Naruto twirled the staff and aimed another strike at her, but she vaulted backwards and out of reach.

Naruto sealed the staff away and paused.

 _A snake summoner . . . Those are very rare, just who is she?_

Very similar thoughts concerning the blonde was buzzing in Anko's head.

"45 seconds left." Hayate supplied from the sidelines.

Both eyed each other with a wary and mutual respect. Anko made the first move and appeared next to him in a shunshin. Her stab at Naruto only hit air, because the teen had already gone.

Anko quickly left the spot in another shunshin. Which saved her from being hit by a spinning back heel kick from behind.

The round devolved into a game of catch where both dashed around using the Shunshin. Their fast-paced clashes only lasted a second or two at most before they disengaged, only to reappear somewhere else.

Neither was getting the upper hand, and at this point the duel was becoming hard to comprehend from the sidelines.

"Are you guys seeing this?" Ino muttered, almost speechless. The Yamanaka girl felt humbled by the skill level of the two in front of her. She had never seen such an advanced spar, it was enough to make her lose self-confidence.

"He's fighting her evenly, yes, we're seeing it." Shikamaru replied quietly.

"Where did you say this guy was from?" Kiba asked, and threw a look at team 7. Both Sasuke and Kosuke was too absorbed in the fight to notice him.

"He never said." Sakura answered. "I asked, but he only gave us some vague reply about being from all over."

"How does he summon and vanish his weapons? He keeps doing it." Shino wondered aloud.

"He's a Fuuinjutsu genius, so it's no doubt linked to that, but I have no idea how he does it." Sasuke responded uniformly without looking away.

Hinata glanced at him, "labeling someone a genius is high praise coming from you."

Sasuke gave a lazy twist with one shoulder. "He showed us Fuuinjutsu I doubt our shinobi corps even know exist."

"I see." She said evenly and withdrew her gaze.

A small shockwave of air ruffled the clothes of the rookies, even as far away as they were. Naruto's wind techniques were clearly powerful. It had not been enough, unfortunately.

"Oh, she got him." Choji commented, for once not eating anything.

A suspenseful silence settled over the group, the strange Genin was hurt.

Drops of blood dyed the grass red as Naruto weaved in-between attacks. He was bleeding profusely from a bite wound in his shoulder. Curtesy of one long ass reptile.

Anko was capitalizing on the opportunity, he only barely managed to vault away with a single hand.

He had slowed down some, but nothing too vital had been severed, he thought he could still use the arm somewhat. Anko wouldn't count on that, probably. There wasn't much time left either, he had no more chances. If he lost here everything would be over before it began.

It was time to play it risky.

Rising from his roll, Naruto set into high gear. With his healthy arm, he flicked a handful of shuriken charged with wind chakra at the supervisor. Simultaneously, his wounded arm held up a lone sign, and six shadow clones burst into life around him.

Anko narrowly dodged the deadly projectiles and paused to observe the clones, she seemed surprised. Whether it was due his use of a taxing Kinjutsu, or the way he executed it with just one hand, he had no idea.

The six clones split off and surrounded her, Anko responded by throwing a few of her own projectiles. One clone vanished in a smoke puff. Unbothered, Naruto unsealed his wakizashi and abruptly threw it in an overhead arc at the woman.

Realizing he was planning something, Anko made quick use of the Shunshin to get out of the hotspot. Which was the signal he had mentally instilled into his clones.

Anko reappeared at a safer distance closer to the podium. However, unease flowed into her when smoke screens popped up on all her sides. Four identical dark dressed teenagers attacked her simultaneously in a clearly rehearsed pattern. Anko hastily flipped through four hand signs.

"Katon: Ryuka no Jutsu!" The snake summoner unleashed a breath of fire that expanded into a short cone of hot flames. Two clones went up in smoke, and a third only barely managed to dive out of the way. Anko whirled around to deal with the fourth clone, but halfway into her spin something tightened around her pivotal foot.

Alarmed, Anko reflexively tried to substitute, but her focus took a dent when the clone next to her reacted a bit quicker than expected and nailed her with a punch to the stomach. The hand around her ankle yanked down hard an instant after that. Anko was in the process of being submerged when another Naruto appeared out of nowhere with his leg extended. The flat of his foot connected firmly with her chin.

The impact was enough to jolt her brain into unconsciousness.

Anko fell limply and hit the ground awkwardly, her right leg was buried to the knee. A clone didn't hesitate to bring a kunai to a rest over her throat.

Hayate stepped forth and raised an arm to gather attention, he was eyeing the clone warningly. "Round over, the point goes to Naruto for subduing his opponent."

A sort of stunned silence greeted those words, and Naruto let his taut body slacken. His clones evaporated into smoke next to him, and he couldn't help but to analyze their perspectives of that last sequence. The round had been very close, but he caught a break towards the end.

The onslaught of attacks from so many directions must have caught her off guard. The point that round wasn't wholly his credit, it was more apt to say the supervisor messed up.

It only took a moment for the excited small talk to bubble up. Naruto did his best to ignore the crowd and gave his hurt shoulder an experimental roll, he managed to keep a wince back, but it certainly hurt.

 _Oh well, that turned out a lot better than expected. I revealed nothing too important, except for my Fuuinjutsu aptitude, but Fuuinjutsu is my bread and butter anyways. It's an obscure branch, so it usually catches people off guard even if they know you're skilled at it._

He would have used his own summons too, but Gamahiro would have as much of a problem in pinning down the snake summoner as Naruto. Better to keep his contract with the toads under wraps.

"Ugh, for fucks sake, that made me dizzy." Anko slurred from her prone position, back to awareness. Naruto barely heard her over the din of noises. "I can't believe I lost that one. I didn't expect you to have that level of synergy with your clones. I fucked up."

Feeling generous, Naruto took a step forward and extended his unhurt arm. She looked at the hand for a few seconds before grabbing it.

Up on her feet Anko pulled her foot loose from the ground and wiped herself down. She then straightened and gave her chin a gentle caress, the look she sent him was teasing.

"You got anything against pretty women, or is it just this face in particular you're trying to mess up?" She asked.

"At least I spared your nose this time." Naruto replied in good humor, but eyed his shoulder worryingly. "Your summons aren't venomous, are they?"

"Some of them are." She seemed happy to inform him.

 _Oh well, I probably would have felt the effects by now if that was the case with this bite._

"Well, I need a minute." Naruto turned his head to look at the small bite in his shoulder. Now that the fight was done and the adrenaline in him was flushing out, his shoulder was beginning to bleed for real. The fabric around his upper torso was becoming slicker with blood by the minute.

"So, it won't it close up as easily as the previous cut?" She was only halfway joking.

"It would take three or four hours for a wound this big to close itself, unless I speed up the process." He said matter-of-factly. She might not know it yet, but they were allies after all. He could tell her minor things like that, he'd like to have her trust someday.

Besides, he kind of liked being honest with people for a change.

"Get it bandaged." Anko suggested slowly, clearly unsure if he was being truthful or not.

 _I could bandage it, but I have to consider the upcoming round as well, if I get into another Taijutsu showdown with her . . . The odds are against me in that field, and I shouldn't just hope I luck out and get a Ninjutsu match. I ought to do something as a precaution . . ._

He made sure to act when Anko turned away to have a few words with the male supervisor. Naruto channeled chakra into his fingertips and held his hand over his stomach. Over the eight-trigrams seal, to be precise.

He hesitated for a moment, a tiny moment that was significant still. He had done this once before, a dumb experiment from his more brash and foolhardy days. It might help him now though, so he shouldn't complain.

 _Slowly . . . I only want to jiggle it a bit._

He rotated his hand ever so slightly. Apparently, there was a key to the seal somewhere. But Naruto had yet to encounter a lock he couldn't pick, and his father's seal was no exception. Then again, he was unable to actually open the seal –a good thing to be sure, but he knew how to prop it ajar, so to speak.

 _Okay, there. Any more and I'll lose chakra control, and the effects would become visible._

Naruto removed his hand and felt an increase of chakra seep into him. The eight-trigrams seal was unique in that it allowed the Jinchuriki some of the Biju's chakra, a small trickle of it leaked into the Jinchuriki always. Like an IV that never stopped dripping. Over time this resulted in increased chakra reservoirs and large chakra pathways for the Jinchuriki.

Unfortunately, this benefit came with a drawback, the eight-trigrams seal deteriorates over time, and the key to completely seal off the proverbial chakra 'drip' would also mean the Jinchuriki could no longer access any of the Biju's chakra. Naruto had just momentarily turned the IV drip into something a bit more powerful.

Naruto straightened and glanced over the crowd.

Some must have seen him tamper with the seal – or his own stomach in their eyes, but he sincerely doubted they had the knowledge necessary to understand it. Ibiki had been busy discussing something with a fellow judge, and Anko was still talking to Hayate. His eyes stopped when he glanced over the Konoha rookies, he gave their suspicious faces a wink.

The skin on his shoulder was itching terribly now, and the pain had dulled into a slow beat. He felt better, a bit stronger too maybe.

He released a breath and closed his eyes. The additional chakra from the kyuubi made him more rash, but he wrestled it down. It was enough to make him wonder how much of an effect the malicious chakra had had on him as a child growing up. Although he couldn't do anything about it, it still worried him from time to time.

Naruto stood perfectly still and tried to calm his cardiac valves. The added chakra from the Kyuubi also influenced him physically. Everything became slightly sharper, less gritty and more vivid. He imagined the effects would only increase if he took in more of the Kyuubi's chakra. He had never gone beyond this experimental stage though, and he hoped he never had to go further.

"Oi, bad boy?"

Naruto cracked open his eyes. The bruised face of his test supervisor greeted him. He could make out individual strands of her dark hair now. He noted how it framed her face very prettily.

"Mitarashi-san?" His voice was a bit dry.

She folded her arms and looked at him with annoyance. "Aren't you going to get that shoulder wrapped up? Its bleeding you out kid."

Naruto gave the shoulder an experimental rotation, it was sticky with slick and crusted blood. But he only felt a slight sting when he moved it.

"Actually, I'm ready for the-" He began to tell her, but she interrupted him.

"Pfft! Not likely." Anko stepped forward and grabbed his shoulder gently to inspect it.

Her eyes widened when she peered through the bite holes in his dark grey combat vest. The skin beneath was irritated and covered in crusted blood, but also nearly unblemished. She leveled her head with his and stared at him. It felt strangely intimate, and Naruto struggled not to get flustered.

"Who are you?"

". . ."

". . ."

"Uzumaki Naruto." He looked her square in the eyes. She took a moment to digest that.

"I doubt even a pureblooded Uzumaki had that kind of regeneration." Her voice was calm, but also insistent.

"I'm not pureblooded, but I'm special." He replied easily. "And besides, I told you I could speed up the process."

She took even longer to stew over that answer.

"Okay, Uzumaki-san. Let's wrap up this test. Don't hold anything back this round, kid. You'll regret it if you do." She walked off to her side of the dirt mound and threw off her tan overcoat. People around the clearing quieted down. They knew what was coming next. The panel of judges straightened.

 _Was that a warning?_

Anko gave Hayate a look, and he stepped closer, ready to referee the match.

 _Fine, I wasn't going to hold back anyways._

Naruto stepped up to the usual spot and stared blankly ahead. He flared some chakra out experimentally. The grass under him rippled slightly under the invisible force.

 _Yeah, I still have good control. Nothing to worry about._

Anko arched an eyebrow at his display.

"I'm ready." He told her evasively.

She gave him a nod and held up an arm. "Three. Two. One."

She did the coinflip.

A drop of sweat trilled down his forehead.

The coin landed, and Naruto blasted off his feet. It was heads again. _Taijutsu again!? Ugh!_

With his right leg, Naruto kicked into the dirt mound as hard as possible. Anko stopped in her tracks when she got hit with a literal explosion of earth. Squeezing out his considerable reserves of chakra, Naruto took two large strides before kicking off into the air.

He snapped his legs into a text book fly kick. Anko recovered in time to block him with a cross guard, but the force of the kick had her feet slipping. Naruto landed and brought up an arm to block a fast retaliation from the snake summoner.

Naruto returned fire, and their arms became a blur as the two fought for dominance. Any distractions ebbed away from their minds, both went from one stance to another in the blink of an eye. There was only action and reaction. Both refused to be the first to lose focus.

The kunoichi snapped out multiple attacks in quick succession, and her slippery style made it difficult to anticipate where she was aiming. But unlike earlier he could see her moves more clearly now, and react slightly better as well.

Naruto blocked a strike and redirected a sneakier low blow. He attacked back with a knife hand aimed for her neck, but Anko blocked him expertly and in a single fluid motion she caught his elbow in a vice grip. Naruto stepped closer and wrung his detained arm down and to the side, before he bent and performed a compact kick upwards directed at her stomach.

Anko grabbed his leg with her one free arm, but the kick proved too powerful. She used her hand as a buffer and let her body be pushed back by the force. She tried grabbing hold of Naruto's foot, but the boy spun on the spot and a round house kick nearly lopped her head off. She managed to twist away in time, but Naruto heard her annoyed huff.

The two was starting to learn the other's distinct style, their exchanges were more even now. Both had yet to land a proper hit. The audience was staring at the increasingly complex Taijutsu battle. A fight like the one unfolding was a rare sight.

The halfway mark of the round was called, and the equilibrium had yet to shatter.

Their fight was explosive, and Naruto was starting to get winded, his arms were getting heavier. Fortunately, he wasn't the only one. Anko was having the exact same issue, and whenever their eyes met, he could discern one prevailing emotion in her. Irritation.

Good, he could work that angle.

Naruto blocked a sweeping kick and fired off a punch. Anko redirected it and quickly closed their distance. Naruto sidestepped and blocked several successive attacks, he kept denying her each time she advanced. He never took his eyes off her face, not once.

 _How does it feel, Mitarashi-san?_

Naruto bent away and narrowly avoided a lightning quick strike from the woman, he responded with a palm strike.

 _To fight evenly with someone half your age?_

He briefly met her eyes again after another super-fast exchange of fists. She looked beyond vexed.

 _Must be frustrating, right?_ The corner of his mouth got caught in a smile.

Naruto dodged left and right, he then employed a difficult combination series of both closed fists and open palm strikes that forced Anko to take a step back. Naruto's smile grew larger.

 _Can you feel my superiority?_

Anko let a growl slip free and layered into him with a ferocity he hadn't seen before. Slightly overwhelmed, Naruto backtracked and evaded her at all costs.

On the inside, Naruto felt a small measure of triumph surge through him.

Naturally, she didn't want to be outdone by anyone so young, and unlike Kakashi who was an analytic, Anko was an emotional fighter. Naruto had recognized that early on, he could even relate to her. He used to make the same mistake she was making now in his training sessions with Jiraiya.

Her frustration was building incrementally from each attack he stopped and evaded. Her nurtured skills were gradually being forgotten in favor of instinct, and her polished tactics were eroding into rushed feints and tricks he'd seen her do already.

Naruto felt he could beat her now. The sudden thought surprised him somewhat, which made him pause for an insant. One instant was enough to make a subtle difference for Anko though.

She managed to land a powerful blow to his shoulder that had him reeling, and immediately went for the opening in his defenses.

Naruto cursed silently to himself and immediately employed some of his best moves to stem the sudden onslaught from the Jonin. That feeling from before remained though. He could beat her. She was excited to have gotten in the first hit, this was the perfect time to turn the tables.

Naruto felt more than saw her next attack coming. _I can anticipate her . . ._

Naruto twisted his body to the side and leaned into an unnatural single handstand, which he used to catapult himself into the air.

The Snake summoner whirled around to keep track of him with wide eyes. _With only one hand?!_

With an impressive display of coordination Naruto dropped down on Anko with a heel kick. She redirected it to the side, but Naruto made his landing by planting his elbow in Anko's face. The snake summoner staggered backwards and made an involuntary grunt of pain.

Not giving her any time to recover, Naruto stepped forward and slammed his fist into her upper torso. He felt her ribs creak. The force of the blow launched Anko away. She bounced across the ground brutally before she came to a stop a good distance away from Naruto.

 _Did I . . . overdo it?_ Naruto bent down and leaned on his knees. He was out of breath, but just fine otherwise apart from a throbbing shoulder.

"Time. The round is over, the judges will declare the winner momentarily." Hayate was reduced to a series of coughs at the end of his single line. Naruto let out a relieved breath, he had made it just in time.

Naruto ignored the loud people on the sidelines and turned around to give the referee a nod of acknowledgement. The up and coming Shinobi then calmly walked to his opponent. Her eyelids were drowsily trying to open when he stopped next to her prone form.

"That was some spar." She muttered. "I've never fought someone like you."

"The feeling is mutual." He told her.

"No wonder Ibiki got his panties in a twist over you. What did you do to upset him anyways?"

"I knocked down the party décor." He gave a slight nod to a conspicuously toppled statue some distance away from them.

Anko let out a wheezing laugh that seemed to drain all the tension out of her. "He gets so carried away, that guy."

Naruto looked over his shoulder at the Konoha proctor. The scarred man was pointedly explaining something to a fellow judge. "You think he overreacted too?"

". . . You're not the guy he's looking for."

". . . I'm not, but what makes you so sure?"

"Call it intuition if you want."

Naruto shrugged and held out a hand to her for the second time that day. She didn't hesitate to take it this time. He pulled her up, but she wouldn't release his hand after the fact. Her smile was drowsy, but also playful. A very attractive combination.

"If you're back in Konoha again someday with a few extra years under your belt, you should find me. We could have a different kind of spar together, you know?" She joked with a teasing smile. He thought she was joking in any case.

Naruto tried not to look at her skin which was showing through the mesh suit. Instead, he pulled away his hand and snapped his eyes to hers. He forced himself not to look down again. _I hate my height. Her boobs are almost in my face, it's impossible not to notice._

"Err, I don't know, I'd probably lose that fight, and I hate losing." He surprised her with a witty and modest reply, but heat was surging up his throat. She let out a laugh.

"I can tell. Go get some experience first then, you're clearly a fast learner, you'll get there."

Despite himself, Naruto felt his face heat up, not even all his experiences dealing with Jiraiya's female companions had prepared him enough for the teasing face Anko was making.

Naruto refused to look as meek as he felt, so he tried to end things smoothly. "Konoha is my new residence, I'm sure we'll bump into each other."

"Really? Well, don't be a stranger then. I look forward to get to know you, Uzumaki boy." She let out another laugh before she turned to pick up her discarded overcoat. Naruto was left behind thinking 'Uzumaki boy' was probably an improvement from just 'kid'.

Hayate walked calmly past Anko and into the center of the clearing, he cleared his throat and said in an almost flat voice: "The judges voted unanimously. The round went to Naruto. Having won two out of three rounds, he passes the test and is eligible to take the exam."

A brief pause.

"This clearing is no longer a test area and the exam will begin shortly. That is all."

Naruto could only feel elation at that.

 **xXx**

Although it had been a spectacular show, very few clapped when it was over. It wasn't the ninja way, and as Naruto would soon become everyone's competition, no one felt like applauding him.

Sakura was one of the few who tried to clap, but was stopped by a man next to her. She looked down at the hand restraining her, puzzled.

"I wouldn't be so quick to show everyone you're friends with that guy. You'd be a perfect target for his enemies." The man holding her arm warned.  
Sakura gave him a glancing look, she had him pegged somewhere in his late teens, as he was taller than most of the Genin she'd seen.

Excusing his rudeness for now, she asked: "What do you care?"

The other rookies were eyeing the spectacled man warily.

"Ah, I beg your pardon." He pushed his glasses further up his nose. "I'm Kabuto. A fellow Konoha Genin, and I think we from the leaf ought to stick together, no?"

He didn't pause for long.

"As you can see, no one is approaching him." Sakura looked ahead and had to agree with that. People were returning to the clearing, but there was a large circle around Naruto, who was stretching his shoulder.

"Yeah, 'cause he's dangerous. We're not dumb." Kiba commented from the sideline. Kabuto gave the Inuzuka a small nod, he then addressed all the rookies. "As a veteran of these exams, there's a lot I can tell you. I have information on the people trying out for instance."

Kabuto showed the group a handful of blank cards.

"I figure you rookies will need all the advantage you can get. Any of the names on the blackboard that piques your curiosity?" He asked them.

There was a short silence, and Sakura had to repeat his words once to herself before she realized what he was offering. _How does he have intel on the Genin here?_

She was a bit surprised when Shikamaru took half a step forward.

"What do you know about Sabaku no Gaara?" He asked tonelessly.

"An interesting name, let me see." Kabuto quickly picked out a card and channeled some chakra into it. He held it up to his eyes.

"Hmm, impressive. His B-rank assignments are up in the double digits. And perhaps even more impressive, he's completed an A-rank and returned home completely unscathed."

That surprised everyone, Shikamaru narrowed his eyes at the information.

The Hyuuga heiress was the first to recover and give Kabuto another name.

"Kurotsuchi."

"The Tsuchikage's granddaughter?" Kabuto flipped up a new card. He seemed to know exactly where he had each individual card, even though they were all blank.

"Another young powerhouse, she's a known candidate for the Kage position in Iwa. That alone says something about her, but her mission records are also eye-catching. She's recently done a whole string of B-ranks, and every report on her performance are glowing with praise. Her main aptitude is ninjutsu, she's also known for her elemental manipulation."

"Troublesome." Shikamaru let out a breath. Hinata Hyuuga looked thoughtful.

Sasuke was the next to give a name. "Naruto."

Kabuto turned his gaze to the Uchia and gave him a smile. "That guy, huh?"

Sasuke gave Kabuto a dark look. "Do you know him?"

"He's . . . interesting. You see, I have intel on every Genin here, there's a few I only know snippets of information about, but at least I know their affiliation. Him though? Nothing. Naruto, whoever he is, has been a ghost all his life up until now. I admit I'm curious about him. His benefactors clearly went to great lengths to conceal him, so why is he purposefully garnering attention? It makes no sense. In any case, I would be careful around-" At this point Morino Ibiki stepped forth on the podium, and Kabuto stopped mid-sentence.

"Genin! Gather around here, the first phase is about to begin!"

The silver haired Genin adjusted his round spectacles again, he left with a few parting words. "It's starting. Here's a tip, don't try to compete, try surviving. Good luck."

With those glum words on their minds, the rookies shared a few looks and walked ahead. It was unlikely they would all be walking back again, and they all knew it.

 **A/N That's another one done, guys. What's there to like about it? What's there to dislike? Please give me your thoughts in a review!**

 **How are everyone's thoughts about Naruto's strength and skills so far? I'm honestly curious what you think. I should probably mention Naruto will face greater danger earlier on in the story than in canon.**

 **If you have any problems with how this chapter progressed, all I want to say is: I introduced Anko and had her fight Naruto. Therefore, your opinion is invalid.**

 **EDIT: I revised the ending in this chapter on the 31.10.17. I didn't like it as it stood. I also edited some of the dialogue and combat between Naruto and Anko, only minor stuff.**

 **The Epic Pen, signing off.**


	7. Phase One

**A/N Humble apologies, dear readers. Seems like I dropped off the grid again. I'm sorry for any pain it caused. It happens, I got hit by life I guess. In the face. With a chair.**

 **I've moved around a lot, got a new girlfriend. A new job, new car, new everything really. Fanfiction fell to the side with all of this going on in 2017.**

 **However! Here we have another upload. In this chapter I start to make good on my word. We're going to mess around with some truly overused tropes in Naruto fanfictions. We're not going to deconstruct this particular cliché - yet. But we are going to stretch it to its limits and laugh at it. Which will be fun.**

 **All I'm going to say is: Keep an open mind. Read and enjoy.**

 **The Legacy Ascending**

Phase One

 _~ In Konoha Arena ~_

Ibiki's explanation of the first test was succinct.

"I'm about to delegate all of you into eight different groups. After that, everyone will undergo the same test, but in different locations. Each group will average about twenty-five Genin. Don't _cry_ when I split up your teams!" The last line was added in sharply, and Ibiki glanced over the crowd with narrowed eyes before he continued.

"Now, I want you to listen carefully. I will shout your name only ONCE! I will then give you a direction, and after that I expect you to _start_ walking. If you get lost, just follow the smoke. Once all of your group reach your destination, the test will be explained in proper. Okay, ready!?"

Some people chorused a 'yes'. Naruto remained silent.

"Good, onto the names! First off: Naruto!"

The boy in question blinked in surprise at being first, but quickly snapped up his head. Naruto thought he could see a new spark behind Ibiki's eyes now. He must have checked the disclaimer and found the planted Konoha leaf. Naruto forced down a self-satisfied smile.

"Desert zone!" Ibiki proclaimed loudly and pointed off into the distance. Naruto had memorized the arena's layout earlier, so pointing out the direction was actually unnecessary. "Watch for the purple smoke!" Ibiki added to him before he called out a new name, whom he gave similar instructions. Naruto stepped out of the crowd and performed a smooth shunshin, he made it clear he was not using any hand-signs.

 **xXx**

 _~ Desert Zone ~_

Naruto was quick to arrive on location; the desert zone wasn't as large as he'd thought. Still, he would have struggled to find the test supervisor had it not been for the brazier beside the man. A slow burn was roiling inside it, and a line of purple smoke stretched up into the sky.

Taking the last few steps normally – that is to say, without using the Shunshin – Naruto stopped in front of the man by the brazier. He wore the standard Konoha flak jacket and was rolling a senbon needle around in his mouth. His seemingly carefree and lackadaisical manner reminded Naruto of Kakashi, and it had him on guard.

"No questions please, wait for the rest of the group." The man ranted off before Naruto could so much as open his mouth.

With a shrug, Naruto walked past him to study what had to be the test area. There was a . . . structure of sorts. Five pillars. All formed of dried mud, a Doton user's work no doubt. They were large enough to have half a dozen people stand on them with personal space to spare, and five stories tall maybe. The five mud columns were in the shape of a five-pointed star, and a somewhat hastily erected earth wall connected all the columns.

He was looking at a fight pit. The next part could get very messy. _Good._ An unbidden voice rose up inside him. It surprised him.

Walking swiftly, Naruto rounded a corner and heaved a sigh. He had just realized he was still being intoxicated by the temporary tweak he'd made in the seal, and he had to correct it.

Holding up all five fingers, Naruto focused. His reserves were so massive, this kind of chakra usage were nearly impossible for him, it was only through hundreds of hours of practice that he'd gotten this far with it.

He visualized he was gathering drops of dew on his fingers in the midst of a hurricane. It wasn't an excessive analogy when the amount of chakra Naruto needed was so tiny he could barely wrap his senses around it.

Satisfied, Naruto crammed the seal back into its original place. The added chakra drip from the Kyuubi disappeared. He felt relief fill him, but it did not last.

 **xXx**

 _~ Earlier that day - Inside the Eight Trigrams Seal ~_

Kurama woke with a stir. Something was different. There was a tiny change in the eight trigrams seal. He could feel an almost imperceptible drain of chakra through the seal. Likely due to the boy somehow, but Kurama didn't know how.

 _ **He must be struggling with something.**_ He pondered on what kind of scenario his host was in. It was hard to say, Kurama didn't even know how old the boy was, much less his development. Time was impossible to track in the seal when he had no connection to the host he was sealed within. He could have been trapped inside the seal for decades by now for all he knew, it sure as hell felt like it most of the time.

That was unlikely though, the seal would have been all but an eroded husk of its former self if that had been the case. But the fact that the boy had somehow tinkered with the seal for the second time now was intriguing. _**He hasn't damaged the seal yet, so he must be at least halfway competent.**_

Kurama stretched his chained limbs as best he could and tried to fall back into sleep, it was the best way to kill time.

After a while, the tiny drain stabilized. The subtle change was enough to jerk Kurama awake again. The boy had somehow . . . realigned the seal back into place and in the process cut off the surplus chakra flow.

 _ **He must be of out of danger by now then.**_ Kurama thought to himself, and absentmindedly flexed his chakra, like he would do every now and then again to check the seal. And that was just it, the seal had worsened again. Not much, but slightly, ever so slightly. Immediately, Kurama tried something he had been attempting for years now. He forced tendrils of his chakra through the seal and tried to pull at the crevices he could feel. He wanted to meet his vessel.

 **xXx**

 _~ With Naruto – Inside the seal ~_

Naruto took in his new surroundings warily. _What just happened?_

The street he was standing on was dimly lit by a dying sun. There were a multitude of buildings on both sides of the street. Interestingly, they all seemed to be structures he'd seen before at some point in his life. Some were complex works of architecture, others were simple places he'd stayed at. He saw a restaurant he'd used to frequent a few years ago, down the lane.

The street wasn't a real place he realized, but a fiction drawn up from his subconsciousness. The question was how was he standing in it?

It was at that moment a blood-curling growl cut down the quiet street. **"Finally . . ."**

Naruto felt a shiver move down his spine and he immediately spied for the source of the voice, but there was nothing. _That could only have been the Kyuubi. . . So, this must be the inside of the eight-trigrams seal._ The thought was a bit humbling. _But where is the fox?_

Oddly enough, running into the giant fox didn't strike him as all that scary. Naruto felt in control of this place, it felt like he could do things here he normally couldn't. Imprisoned as it was, the Kyuubi should have no real way of hurting him. unless he gave it one.

He glanced around the chaotic but pretty street. The young Uzumaki then began walking at a leisurely pace.

His mindscape was a telling place, and very obviously decorated by his sub consciousness. Naruto's first momentary pause was to stare at the statue of a man. The flame pattern running down the man's haori made identifying him easy even for someone who never knew him.

The Statue of the Yondaime was completely overshadowed however, by a much larger one standing next to it. Naruto saw himself in that one. He was different, older and battle hardened, but it was undoubtedly him. With an uncaring shrug Naruto moved on.

 _Nothing I didn't already know, I've wanted to surpass him for a long time now._

He walked on and noticed how the surrounding nature was taking over. The cobbled path he'd started on had almost disappeared beneath a thick layer of green. The buildings were overgrown with vines and moss. A winding tree was growing straight through a windowed house that he saw.

Naruto paused when he arrived in front of a garden pond. Curiously, five large slabs of stone stood erect in the pond. He inquisitively stepped closer. The stones were arranged in a circle, and a symbol was hewed into each of them.

 _The five elements._ Naruto realized when he waded in to get a closer look.

He almost immediately noticed how the symbol for air seemed to almost glow with power. The other four didn't give of anything like that, but they were not completely inert either. The symbols for fire and lightning were thrumming quietly. He could barely feel anything from earth and water though. It could be a representation of the elemental nations, but he doubted it. It was more likely this illustrated the five elements and his progress in learning them.

He had always wanted to master all five. Arrogant maybe, but he didn't care.

A bit hesitantly, Naruto stepped out of the pond and continued onwards. His wet footwear squeaked as he walked and he briefly wished he was dry. No sooner had he finished the thought and he was dry.

Completely flummoxed, Naruto stopped and stared down in wonder. _There really is something to this place._

Spurred on, Naruto experimentally stretched out a hand. He watched as the grass around him started to _grow._ In seconds it reached his knees, and the surprise alone was enough to make a lapse in his concentration. The grass stopped growing.

 _The rules in this place are not the ones I'm used to._

Naruto slashed down his arm in an arc. The green ocean in front of him was removed in that single motion. The grass disappeared in a soundless wind. _No chakra necessary, just pure visualization. The workings of this place are beyond strange._

Of course, existential control would certainly come in handy when facing the Kyuubi, so he wasn't going to complain, but he wanted to know how far he could take this?

For instance, maybe he didn't have to search every nook and cranny for the Kyuubi. Maybe – by visualizing – he could summon the kyuubi to _him_? Naruto paused that particular train of suicidal thought before it could get any further.

Maybe Jiraiya was actually right in calling him reckless.

Then again . . . he seemed to be in his element while inside the seal. Just how much could he really do?

He looked around the broken road he was on and immediately spotted a dilapidated windmill standing at a slight tilt. He narrowed his eyes in concentration, and the woodwork screeched loudly. Naruto watched unblinkingly as an invisible force ripped one of the mill arms straight off and threw it away like you would a tooth pick.

Feeling cockier, Naruto raised the bar. With the force of his will he tried to topple the mill. He surprised himself when the large structure was torn out of its foundation and slung into the ground.

Naruto released a large breath of air he had unconsciously kept in. Only then did he notice how breathless he was. He gulped down air. He was a bit shaky, but that feeling did not compare with the elation at having toppled over a large windmill like it was nothing.

"Incredible. . ." Naruto breathed out loud. "There is a bar though."Limits or not, he could still wreak havoc with the environment with willpower and imagination alone. What he wanted to know now however, was how far could he alter this world. Without preamble, Naruto extended his arm and focused. He was satisfied when a small tanto dropped into his hand out of thin air.

Having fun with this, Naruto looked at the ground and imagined something else. The rabble of a road with weeds and grass poking through disappeared, and was replaced by colorful plants and flowers. Naruto barked out a laugh full of disbelief. "This place is beyond surreal." He muttered to himself.

Suddenly, summoning the Kyuubi didn't seem so reckless anymore.

 **xXx**

 _~ With the Kyuubi ~_

One agonizing second after another went by, but still no boy. When he showed, Kurama planned to coerce him into making a deal. He would tempt the boy, promise him power. The child would no doubt be suspicious, but in the end, he would accept. Humans never turned down power freely given. The hidden catch was the dissolving effects of his chakra, which would gradually deteriorate the eight trigrams seal. Not to mention the boy's health.

He would just have to use some shock and awe to make the boy biddable first, keep him from asking questions. That's when it happened, ironically enough.

If you blinked you would have missed it. In one moment, Kurama was lying on the cold stone floor of his dark prison, his limbs chained down. In the next, he was gone.

For about half a second, Kurama hung in the air, then he crashed into a soft and unfamiliar surface. Animalistic instincts kicked in and Kurama bounced up on all four – he was so bewildered he forgot to even question where the chains holding him down had gone. Confused and angry, Kurama whirled around in an attempt to get his bearings. The giant fox spotted a silhouette standing a distance away.

That was when all hell broke loose.

Something hard slammed into his back from above and forced him into the ground. A pained groan escaped him, that more than anything stoked the fire in him. Something was snaking itself around his legs. With a vicious snarl Kurama spun to let out a 150-decibel roar.

The nine-tailed fox could never properly set the sense of complete and utter shock into words at what came next. Out of the corner of his eye, he got a glimpse of a tree crown coming at him with momentum. The full-grown beech-tree came swinging out of nowhere, and Kurama had no time to react.

The thick tree trunk snapped in half at the impact and sent the massive Biju back into the ground.

 _ **What the hell is happening!?**_ Kurama's fiery rage was mounting. Dizzy from the heavy blow, Kurama failed to recognize his legs were bound. He tried to stand, but immediately staggered and fell. A dust cloud rose from the impact.

"Hi there . . . Sorry for the rough introduction."

Kurama snapped open a bloodshot eye. There, standing in front of his face in the whirling dust was a blonde-haired boy.

 **"You . . ."** _ **The Namikaze brat!**_

"Me." The tiny mongrel replied. The carefree blue eyes on the runt was enough to send Kurama into a red-hot frenzy.

 **"YOU!"** The word was expulsed with large amounts of thick and malignant chakra. It sent the boy flying, and Kurama watched with satisfaction as the upstart crashed into the ground like a ragdoll. He held back an annoyed grunt when the kid managed to flip himself up in mid roll and land on his feet, still fit for fight.

The two locked eyes.

 **"Do you have a death wish?"** Kurama growled through sharp canines. He was so infuriated he was shaking.

To his surprise, the kid gave a shrug without breaking eye contact. "Do you?"

Frowning at the implied threat, Kurama suddenly noticed the skyline. It was turning dark?

It _was_ , but only because a gigantic _tsunami_ of projectiles was inexplicably closing in. It was a monstrous volley of shuriken that nearly blotted out the sky. The approaching cloud of dark metal gleamed with razor sharp points. _**What Jutsu is this?!**_ Kurama was baffled. The incoming steel storm made no sense at all. _**It's no jutsu . . . He's . . . controlling the mindscape!**_

Digging in his heels, Kurama let loose a big roar of defiance amplified tenfold with chakra. The roar was so powerful it split the descending steel wave in two. Looking down, Kurama fully expected Naruto to have vanished, but was surprised to see him standing motionless. He only moved when a few stray shuriken almost skewered him.

"You forgot to check your rear." The kid shouted through the din of falling steel. Kurama didn't listen and pounced on the boy. He was in mid stride when something careened into him from behind and sent him sprawling into the ground head over heels.

"I think we've flexed our muscles enough for now." Naruto remained still, standing just a few feet away from the prone fox.

As if to punctuate that, a wind mill arm of all things crashed into the ground just a small distance away from Kurama. Clumps of dirt and grass flew everywhere.

"Let's break it up, before we get too caught up in the heat of things." Naruto bent down into a squat and folded his arms across his knees.

"We should talk."

 **"Now you want to talk?** _ **After**_ **starting a fight."** Kurama asked with incredulity. He took longer in getting back on all four this time around. He was shocked at how easily the kid could control the environment in the seal already. Exerting power like this usually took years if not _decades_ to acquire. Kurama kept his thoughts from showing.

The boy raised an eyebrow. "I figured you wouldn't take me seriously unless we fought first."

 **". . . You flaunt power, and you think that will garner respect? All I see is a kid who relies solely on force alone to get past his problems. Is this my new** _ **vessel**_ **?** Kurama spat out the last word with venom. He could see the brat's pokerface was beginning to slip.

"I assumed you would understand a display of power better than anyone else." He responded. _**He's honest.**_ Kurama noted. _**But wrong.**_

 **"Contrary to what you seem to believe,"** Kurama rose to his full height. **"I don't suffer from hubris."** That proved too much, and the kid's mask fell away to reveal a wry smile full of disbelief.

"That's rich, with your past." His voice had turned chill. Inwardly pleased, Kurama feigned insult and lowered his head to stare intently at the small figure in front of him.

 **"What do** _ **you**_ **know of** _ **my**_ **past? You are nothing, you know nothing and you will remain as** _ **nothing."**_

Naruto clenched his fists in quiet frustration and responded harshly. "I may not know much, but even I know it's wrong to decimate half a village and its people in blind rage."

 **". . . Once again, you're mistaken, I did what I did, but not in blind rage. Unlike you humans, I keep my rage under control."**

Naruto rose to his feet again and stared fiercely at the fox. "So, it was calculated then, do you honestly think that's any better?"

 **"I think you will hate me no matter what I say or do."** Kurama stretched closer still, the kid – Naruto, he reminded himself – was staring at him with barely a tremble. He was composed, very different from the mother. **"And what's wrong with that? Hatred is a fine attribute, it gets people farther than most other motivators."**

"Too bad I don't hate you then, or anyone else." Naruto kept his eyes on him. Kurama swished his tails in frustration. _**What?**_

 **"I made you an orphan. I destroyed half your home."** Kurama drove in the points harshly.

"Jiraiya says I'm strange like that. I have a strong sense of justice, but I don't carry grudges." Naruto paused to give a shrug, then he continued. "I probably should hate you, it's only logical given what I know. But I can't force myself to hate someone any more than I can force myself to be happy. So, I say we let the past remain in the past and move forward. As equals, trying to make the best out of the situation we're in."

Kurama struggled for words, **"you want to . . . wait, what?"** The situation had taken one too many turns in the last fifteen minutes, this one above all had shocked him the most. He could see the kid take immense joy in his sudden lack of bearing.

 **"You are proposing an . . . alliance? After first dropping a tree on me."** Kurama was starting to question if maybe he was having a surreal and lifelike dream. The Yondaime's offspring was _nothing_ like he had expected.

"Well, I . . . Yeah, sorry about that. I apologize." The brat dipped his head humbly.

 **"You also leeched off my chakra."** Kurama rattled off. He managed to keep back his surprise at the earnest apology.

"Not because I wanted to, your chakra felt like tar." The kid replied with a grossed-out voice.

 **"Hmph. Are you at the point where you have no choice but to resort to my chakra then?"** Kurama sensed an angle he could work.

"I just didn't like my odds. It won't become a habit."

 **"Oh? Don't you want access to my chakra?"**

"Well, I might need it one day, but I don't want to become dependent on it."

 **"You're here now because you helped yourself to more of my chakra."**

"A few extra _drops_ , what you're talking about is something else. I'm not stupid."

 **"Ha! You don't want the power to** _ **liquefy**_ **your enemies?"**

"I can handle my enemies without liquefying them." Naruto replied in a deadpan.

The Kyuubi lowered his head so close to the ground it nearly kissed the grass. He looked at the boy with condescension. " **Do you even know how the seal operates? It's true design?"**

The kid did not hesitate to respond. "You're referring to what my father worked into the seal. The fact that he wanted me to one day _take_ your chakra, right?"

 **"Exactly. You** _ **know**_ **what is intended, so what's your motive? We will never be allies."** Kurama said bluntly.

The runt hesitated this time, he seemed to chew it over for a minute.

"Honestly? Curiosity more than anything else. I want to know more about you tailed beasts, I want to learn your history, your perspective of the world. I figured you could be a wealth of information if we could get along. We would just have to tolerate one another, to begin with. You said it yourself, I know nothing, and I want to rectify that."

Kurama didn't think that was all there was to it, but he kept up his appearance and scoffed. **"Ahh, curiosity. The excuse of the innocent, but what if I refuse?"**

"I'll chain you up and put you in a dark room for the rest of your days in here. If we form a partnership on the other hand, you can roam around the mindscape all you want." As he spoke, several things happened. The scattered shuriken all disappeared, a fragrant lush grass smelling of rain grew up around Kurama's paws, and a handful of Sakura saplings sprung up and matured several years right in front of his eyes. The pleasant red sun in the distance cast an idyllic red hue over the pretty scenery.

Then, everything slowed down again, and a pair of heavy chains appeared around his hind legs.

"Do we have an agreement, Kyuubi?"

Kurama growled. The chains were yanked roughly. A threat. With all the dignity Kurama could muster, he rose to his full height to look down at the tiny boy beneath him.

 **"Deal."** He growled.

The chains vanished without a trace. "Great!" Exclaimed his new partner. "I was actually in the middle of on exam, so let's hash out any details later. See ya!" With a wave Naruto vanished.

Kurama blinked. Stared. Blinked again. He let out a long breath and ground his teeth together. _**So disrespectful.**_

 _Oi! get out of my head, snooping around in people's heads is way more disrespectful._

Kurama looked down, nope, no boy. He was still gone. A realization lit in him.

 _ **It would seem we've formed a telepathic link through the seal . . . Odd, this never happened with Mito or Kushina . . . And no, I cannot read your mind, if that's what you were fretting over right now.**_

 _That's what a mind reader would say to trick someone . . ._

 _ **I regret this deal already.**_

 _Can we yell at each other through the link? Like, HELLOO?_

 _ **Maker end me now.**_

 _No, no, no, we haven't even begun sharing information-_

 _ **Argh!**_ With a big groan of frustration Kurama pushed the link away, and Naruto's voice was gone.

 _ **Ahh, sweet relief. I can block him out.**_ Exhausted, the fox gingerly laid down in the grass. _ **That brat will be the end of me**_.

 **xXx**

Naruto felt the presence of the fox lash out and push their link away, and silence filled his head. Putting the Kyuubi out of his mind for now, he backtracked around the fight pit and saw that a group had formed, someone was speaking.

" . . . Otherwise, we should be good. Now, let's begin. Please follow me." The supervisor turned on his heel and used shunsin to reappear on top of the wall. He gave the group a wave before he jumped down to the other side.

Immediately, the group rushed to follow. Naruto stopped in his tracks and watched the Genin run past him and straight up the wall.

One boy didn't immediately sprint up. After a moment of watching him, Naruto realized the guy wasn't being careful, he was steeling himself. Stopping beside the spandex clad boy, Naruto laid a hand on his shoulder. "If you struggle with walking on surfaces, you might be better off just quitting here."

The kid snapped his head up to look at him. He had freaky eyebrows and going by his glassy eyes he had hurt his feelings. Naruto tried to reason with him.

"Look. They're not going to promote a Genin if he has to rely on rope just to get over a small hinder. Save yourself the trouble and try again next year."

The boy straightened only to give a formal bow. "I appreciate the concern, Naruto-san! You impressed me greatly in the spar earlier, I wish I could be like you! However, that is not the case! I may not be able to use ninjutsu like you, but techniques like surface walking are still within my grasp! I just have to concentrate!" He clenched a fist and spaced out for a short moment. He recovered quickly.

"No access to Ninjutsu does not mean I cannot become a shinobi! I know that, and my teacher knows that! So please, watch me fight before you pass judgement!" He told him with a large grin and a big thumbs up.

Mollified, Naruto could only nod. "Okay, if you're that confident I won't say anything. I actually look forward to see what you can do now, I'll keep my eyes on you."

"Oho! You also have the fires of youth, Naruto-san! I too will take great care in examining your future battles! Yosh, I'm pumped up! I will make sensei proud today!" The boy in green bent his knees and kicked off. He _soared_ over the wall.

Naruto stared, his eyebrows almost connecting with his hairline. "Crazy people all over today . . ."

Not wanting to be left behind, Naruto followed suit and ran up the wall to join the others.

 **xXx**

"The rules are as follows! The team with the most members standing in the center of the battlefield when time runs out, wins."

The man – he had introduced himself as Genma – was standing on a red circle in the middle of the small makeshift arena.

"This test will last for twelve minutes, during that time, your team's goal will be to stand in this circle as the timer runs out. The team with the most members in the circle when the clock runs out wins. Of course, it's going to be a bit more difficult than that."

Genma rolled his senbon around in his mouth and gazed over their group.

"There will be five teams, I'm going to divide you into them in a minute, after that each team gets on a platform." He pointed at the earth construed towers surrounding them.

"Now then, the complications. I have a whistle here." Genma held it up for everyone to see.

"Each team can only send down teammates to contest the center after I have blown in the whistle, otherwise everyone has to stay on the platforms. I will only blow in this whistle _four_ times throughout the test."

He paused for a moment.

"You look confused. Well, allow me to elaborate. The first whistle will of course go off when the test begins, at the twelve-minute mark. Your team decides on who and how many of you to send down. There will be three more intervals where you get to send down more people, and the whistle is the signal."

Genma stopped pacing. A dark-haired girl shot her arm up, and the supervisor nodded at her.

"Do we _have_ to send down someone at each interval?"

"Excellent question. No, you do not. Then again, I'm only going to permit you to send down _three_ people at most during a interval. You will not be able to send down your entire team in the last three minutes. Further questions?"

"After you blow the whistle, how much time do we have to act on?" The boy was from one of the lesser nations. Some was unable to recognize the symbol of Yugakura, the hidden village of hot water springs on the boy's forehead protector. Naruto was, hot springs was a favorite pastime to Jiraiya.

"Five seconds, if you are any slower you will be disqualified for descending." Was the curt answer.

"Nothing else? No? Good, let's get you sorted and ready. Form a line."

It was a quick procedure from there on, Genma split the twenty-five Genin into groups of five and delegated them to a platform each where they would have five minutes to plan. Naruto ended up with three other boys and one girl. The one who had asked a question earlier, she wore what Naruto recognized as the traditional white Hyuuga robes held together by a black sash. He had seen her earlier among the Konoha rookies, but now she had her hair in a bun secured with a couple of senbon. _Practical, she probably has a mind to use the_ _senbon if she gets cornered._

He was mildly surprised when she quickly took charge of the group.

"Everyone. Let's plan our victory."

Naruto raised a brow in mild interest. The other boys had been quietly staking out their competition on the other platforms, they swiveled their heads at the girl. Naruto stood attentive with his arms tucked under his armpits.

"I am Hinata Hyuuga. Let's work well together. As I am sure you understood from the supervisor, strategy is a big facet of this contest." She paused, and the guys turned around fully. They seemed either confused or skeptical at her words.

"Agreed." Naruto spoke when no one else did, hoping to show her not everyone on the team was a numbskull. "It's a good thing we're not facing a Nara here."

Hinata gave him slight dip of the head, but with her poise it felt like she had done much more. "Exactly. We have a few minutes to plan before the test begins, so let's not waste any time. Let's begin with you, tell us your name and what you specialize in."

Hesitant to reveal much at first, the boy – Hachiro - eventually caved and told them he was a Ninjutsu specialist but could also employ some decent Genjutsu.

The next one up was called Isamu, he was a bulky Taijutsu user who could only use the 'academy three'. The bunshin, the Kawarimi and the Henge. As pitiful as that was, the last guy was worse.

He introduced himself as Saburo, and in his village there were very few people to teach shinobi skills. The abilities he listed off was barely Genin worthy, much less Chunin. " . . . And I recently mastered the chakra technique where you place a leaf on your forehead and you make it stick there, you know that one?"

Naruto couldn't help but let out a sigh. "Oh boy . . ."

The Hyuuga did not react, she was in deep thought. Naruto had her pegged as a main family member.

"Thank you, Saburo-san . . . that is adequate."

"Wow. You gotta be the worst Genin here." Hachiro said plainly.

"Shut up, I can still kick your ass."

"Huh? no you can't, you couldn't beat up a cat."

Naruto watched the two bicker, ready to defuse them.

"What about him? You forgot that guy?" Isamu asked Hinata. She frowned and threw Naruto a look.

"No, I already know what he can do." She glanced at him again, her pale eyes felt strange to him. They belied a cleverness horribly misplaced in somebody so young. "Unless he has anything to add for himself."

Naruto gave a shrug. "No, Hyuuga-san. You can consider me your jack of all trades."

"I will."

"So, send him down first, you saw what he did to that crazy woman! Or, I dunno, why even bother with going down on the first two whistles anyway, isn't it better to wait?" That was Hachiro speaking, he had a very bland and grating voice.

"It depends on what the other team does." Hinata explained. "The team that secures a firm position in the center first gets an advantage because you can't send out all of your teammates at once. On the other hand, you can conserve your strength and send out everyone on the last two intervals, that is probably going to be a popular strategy. It's simple and plausible to work well enough. But there might be a better option."

"huh? There is?" Hachiro asked. Hinata stared at him for a moment.

"Consider this situation: one team sends out one or two persons at every whistle, in the early stage it's not unlikely that they stay in the game simply because most teams will play this game passively and hold back. Fast forward to the later stages, and the team that dropped down people earlier already has a few teammates on the ground, the passive teams will only now start to send out two or three people, while the former team can have their _entire_ team on the ground. The biggest danger with this kind of strategy is that the opposing teams huddle together to remove the bigger threat first."

"Exactly, that's what I figured, it's a bad idea." Hachiro nodded to himself. Naruto was impressed by how fast Hinata was able to move past the boy's behavior.

"Not at all. Firstly, I don't think it's going to be clean, there might be a lot of Genin jumping down on the last whistle, which will go off-"

"When there's three minutes left until we have to be in the center." Naruto supplied, he had done the math on that one earlier.

"Yes, thank you, that's not a lot of time to neutralize a lot of enemies _and_ get in position for the win. There is a chance the last three minutes will be chaotic. Personally, I think that as long as we keep away from the red center piece of the battlefield, we're going to be mostly ignored." She finished with a satisfied smile. It very clearly flustered Hachiro.

 _Impressive, her tutors must be good._

"So, who should go down first? That guy?" Isamu asked and gave a nod toward Naruto.

The Hyuuga considered that. "Naruto-san would no doubt secure us a good position."

"There's nothing wrong with using your trump card early." Naruto smiled. She raised an eyebrow at that, unimpressed.

"But no, I think you should go down first Isamu-kun."

"Wait – why?" Isamu protested.

It was right then, that the first whistle went off. The test had begun. _What did the supervisor say? Five seconds?_

Naruto stepped over to Isamu. "No time to explain big boy, jump down, there's no time."

Isamu only blinked and stared uncomprehendingly at him. Not saying anything, Naruto turned him around and pushed him off. The boy let loose a scream before he hit the ground.

"Good luck man!" Naruto shouted.

"Fuck you!" Came the muffled reply from below. Naruto turned and gave the rest of the team a self-conscious smile.

"I trust the rest of you will go down on your own?"

 **xXx**

Isamu did not make it to the next whistle, unfortunately his kawarimi wasn't fast enough when he got tangled up in ninja wire. He had been taken down by two opponents, so Naruto thought he performed admirably considering. Only three teams had decided to compete in the opening phase, but one of them had sent down not one but two Genin.

Their tactic was working so far, the two teammates were standing on the red centerpiece. The next whistle was due in about a minute.

"Which one of us is next?" Naruto asked lightheartedly. Isamu had been quietly whisked away by the supervisor.

"Saburo-kun, and you, Naruto-san." She replied without taking her eyes off the two down on the field. The pair was skilled enough, but they had no real synergy or teamwork.

"Well, you heard the lady, Saburo. Let's tear up the place." Naruto walked to the edge. He threw a backwards glance at the small guy. "You ready?"

"Uh, yeah, can you go down first and catch me if I fall? I'm not so confident in my surface walking yet and-"

"Step up beside me then. I'll help you." Naruto offered. When Saburo came to a stop beside him, Naruto grabbed the neckline of his vest and held him over the edge. His sandals were halfway over the edge.

"Wha! please don't! let me go!" Saburo shouted, arms flailing.

"Focus!" Naruto told him sharply. He could feel the two Genin behind them tense up.

"What?!" The boy asked with bulbous eyes.

"Search yourself and mold the chakra you need to your feet."

"Now?! I can't-" Naruto let go of his collar and grabbed the vest again further down the back. Saburo yelled again, he was aligned with the ground now. Naruto held himself easily in place by channeling chakra to his own feet, effectively keeping him stuck. A fall like this was hardly worth blanching at, but Saburo had very clearly never experienced any proper training.

"Yes, you can. It's now or never, I'm going to drop you at the next whistle."

"What!?" Despite his protests, Saburo was clearly trying. "I just, I can't do it like this."

"Stop being scared, take control! I've got you, just blast out your chakra, don't be afraid of using too much."

"I . . . I" It was like flicking a switch, an instant change occurred. Naruto released him. Saburo stared straight down, but he wasn't falling.

"Keep that feeling and don't let it go. Memorize it."

"O-okay." His voice was shaky.

"Well done." Hinata said from behind them.

"Thank you!" He replied, his voice bordering on ecstatic now. "I've never been able to stand still like this before!"

The shrill sound of a whistle washed over them.

"That's good, but now you got to walk, we're up." Naruto told him, before jumping down. He landed with barely a bend in his knees, chakra reinforcement was great for cushioning falls. Saburo came to a stop beside him, he was shaking with adrenaline.

Opponents were climbing and jumping down all around the pit.

"I-I'll stay out of your way." Saburo began to walk off. Naruto grabbed his sleeve and pulled him back beside him.

"Are you kidding? We're teammates, we stick together." Naruto gave him a smile and Saburo almost sagged in relief.

"I can't do much though."

"Do your best, watch my back and I'll give you some pointers as we go."

"Huh? Wha-?" He didn't get to finish as Naruto had to push him out of the way of a kunai.

The Genin opposite them let out a hiss of frustration, before he brandished a Wakizashi. He was from Taki going by his forehead protector, another one of the smaller nations. Naruto eyed the blade, the best craftsmen came from Taki, and it showed in this Genin. He had an additional Tanto on his hip.

"Naruto! Behind!" Saburo called out.

Naruto whirled around and shot out his right arm reflexively. The girl who had bored up behind him was tossed away by a powerful gale of wind and knocked forcibly into the wall. She hit the ground roughly, but he could tell she wasn't done for yet.

"Nice one Saburo." Naruto complimented, the girl would have gotten the drop on him if not for him. She had completely slipped under his radar.

The Genin here had so small chakra signatures it was impossible for Naruto to pinpoint them unless they were using a taxing jutsu, and with so many of them around it was just as hard to identify which signature was which person. He couldn't rely on his sensory skills here.

"Why don't you finish her up?" Naruto gave a nod towards the girl struggling to get back on her feet, and turned around to face the Genin from Taki who was confidently striding forth.

"I'll take care of this guy." Naruto's serious voice propelled Saburo into action.

"O-okay!" He unsheathed a kunai and advanced on the girl.

The boy with the wakizashi snorted. "That guy won't last a minute against her."

"Focus on yourself." Naruto told him and leaned in. Dirt and gravel shot up behind him when he moved. Naruto was nearly on him in a heartbeat. Scared out of his mind, his opponent manically swung his Wakizashi in a broad cleave. Naruto slowed down just enough to watch the wakizashi whizz by him harmlessly.

The boy from Takigakure stared with bulbous eyes as Naruto stepped in and grabbed his blade. In two rehearsed moves, his opponent was disarmed and lying on the ground, wheezing for air.

"Fuck . . . you!" With a grim face he flipped through three quick hand signs and substituted with a kunai, but a white tag was around the hilt of it.

 _Oh._

It exploded in the next instant. Propelled by the blast wave, Naruto blitzed away in one of the fastest shunshin he'd ever used. He was unable to slow down fast enough and slammed into someone. He flipped around like a ragdoll before he hit the ground and tumbled until he managed to twist himself and get his feet behind him. He slid to a complete stop on both legs. Despite the combat suit, he had definitely felt that one.

 _What a fucking clusterfuck this is._ Having just barely finished that thought, he realized he had ended up in the worst possible spot. He was standing on red clay.

"DORYYYYYYAA!" A loud battle cry from his left set Naruto's alarm bells going haywire. The Jinchuriki swiveled his eyes and saw the source of the roar closing in on him in his peripheral vision.

Not holding back, Naruto shifted his feet and spun into a roundhouse kick and followed that up with a wheel kick that had the guy cradling on the ground clutching his head. Another opponent was running up behind him, but Naruto allowed himself half a second to scout after Saburo. He spotted him faring badly against the girl from earlier.

He had to help him, but first . . .

Stringing together a dozen different hand signs, Naruto turned around and unleashed his Genjutsu on his approaching target. He had caught the boy off guard and the illusion kicked in swiftly. The Genin slid to a full stop and began weaving out of attacks only he could see. He was fighting an illusion of Naruto. It would keep him busy until he realized he had been put under.

Naruto looked back at Saburo, who was now surrounded by not only the girl from earlier, but also the Genin from Takigakure and another teammate. The trio was playing with Saburo, every delivered hit to the boy was laced with condescension. It stirred something primal and fierce in Naruto.

He pumped chakra to his feet and burst into a sprint.

"How did this kid end up here? He's so bad." Saburo was hit in the gut and pushed away only to be punched across the jaw by the girl. He slumped to his knees.

"Yeah, let's wrap this up and move on." The girl shook her sore hand. She heard Naruto approach too late and only turned around just in time to take a fly kick to the torso. She was sent rolling and ended up against the wall again. She remained limp this time.

Not pausing in his movements, Naruto leaned out of the way of the Wakizashi when it came for him. The other teammate came at him from the side.

"You think you're something special? Fū will fucking roll over you." The Taki boy shouted as he slashed after Naruto. Ignoring him, the young Uzumaki made it look like he was about to use his superior speed to burst inside his guard again, but instead he unexpectedly shifted direction at the last second and went for his companion. Surprised, the guy tried to stab him with a kunai. Naruto grabbed him by his wrist and twisted it. With a yank and shove he sent the boy stumbling into his teammate.

Naruto looked down at _his_ teammate. The kid was pale and bruised. He had a cracked lip, and a strong discoloration around his chin.

"How are you holding up?" Naruto extended a hand. Saburo grabbed it firmly but didn't respond to his question.

Naruto formed a familiar hand sign and created a shadow clone. "Pay attention now." Naruto told Saburo and gestured for him to back off with his clone, Saburo nodded fervently.

Having recovered, the Takigakure Genin threw his tanto to his teammate and raised his wakizashi into textbook position. The two moved to box him in, their pincer attack was more cohesive this time around.

"When cornered, make some space." Naruto told Saburo and twirled a kunai into his grip. He flicked it towards the one with the tanto, who threw himself to the side to avoid it.

"Keep your eyes on your opponent-" with practiced ease, Naruto slid out of the way of the Wakizashi.

"- _Not_ their weapon." The small blade hummed as it sliced through the air again and again. Until Naruto brought a kunai down into his opponent's thigh. Who yelped in pain and fell to his knee, clutching the wound.

"Keep aware of your surroundings!" Using his opponent like a spring board, Naruto kicked him away and backflipped over the second guy. His opponent immediately tried to skewer him when he landed.

"Remember!" Naruto sidestepped the tanto.

"The biggest stick doesn't always win!" Using another kunai Naruto bashed the tanto aside and struck him in the wrist with the butt end of the kunai. The tanto fell to the ground, but his other hand brandished a kunai. Naruto grabbed his elbow and rammed a thumb into the pressure point there. His hand seized up and he lost the kunai, Naruto spun him around and forced the elbow over his head. From there he simply pushed down and the Genin could only yelp as he was forced to his knees, then all the way down to the ground.

"Stay down, or I'll brake something next time." Naruto whispered before he released him.

"Nice lecture, asshole, but we're not in class." Naruto turned to see the girl he'd trounced twice now standing behind Saburo with a kunai held against his throat. The weak boy had tears streaming down his face. "Sorry . . ."

"An important lesson, Saburo. Is to always remain one step ahead of your opponent."

Her expression fell when a kunai was placed at her throat. An identical Naruto was behind her.

The two on the ground looked down in regret and disappointment. Neither tried to get up.

"Drop the kunai and let him go." Naruto told the girl. She gritted her teeth but did what he asked after only a moment's hesitation. Saburo jerked away from her.

"Good." Naruto commended her. "Now lie down, you're done and you know it."

When she didn't immediately comply, the clone behind her stepped on her shin muscle and she was forced down to her knees. She cursed at him, but the clone paid her no mind whatsoever.

With Saburo in his wake Naruto moved on. A Chunin showed up to remove the defeated trio. "As you three have been subdued I will help relocate you from the test area." Were his exact words.

Naruto had his clone stay in the shadow of the wall while he studied the remaining competition. The last of the action was at the center, where three Genin were duking it out. Naruto couldn't immediately tell who was on the same team, but it was easy to see the fight was approaching a close. Instead of intervening, Naruto stopped to watch it unfold. Saburo stopped beside him.

"Catch your breath." Naruto advised him, "round two might get worse."

It was only half a minute later that one got badly injured and stayed down. The fight between the last two continued on for a few more seconds, then the high-pitched sound of Genma's whistle blasted through the miniature arena.

Naruto snatched a small black object from his equipment pouch and threw it into the ground. A thick grey smoke enveloped the two Genin. Saburo whirled around, surprised and fascinated by the dark fumes.

"The question now . . ." Naruto murmured to himself in the smog. "How much assistance will we get?"

Two lithe figures from above landed a bit further back in the smoke.

"Clever to use the smoke-screen here, it gives us time to plan our move." It was the silk like voice of the Hyuuga girl, her silhouette stepped up beside him.

"Well done you two." She commended them.

"Yeah, not bad." A different voice chimed in, was it Hachiki? Naruto struggled to remember his name without a face to go with. "But what's the plan now?"

Naruto replied. "I'm going on the offensive this round, you guys keep watch over each other."

"Very well." Hinata said as if it could not be helped. "Let's stick together and keep in motion."

"You three do that, I'll run interference and eliminate the competition." Naruto walked out of the remaining vapors.

"I'll pop up if you catch some trouble!" He called out over his shoulder, and with a Shunshin, he was gone. He appeared in front of a group of three Genin. Without sermon, he charged one of his Fuuinjutsu scrolls with chakra and flipped it into the air. Before it curved out the scroll disintegrated in a powerful blinding flash that took them by surprise. As the three groaned and staggered around with no eyesight, Naruto opened his eyes and made short work of the group.

Five seconds later, three opponents were removed from the competition. Naruto dashed over to the next cluster of Genin, where he proceeded to disarm and incapacitate everyone he came across in turn and order. He used enough force to keep anyone from getting back up. Naruto kept a steady pace as he calculatingly breezed through opponents. No one managed to lay so much as a scratch on him.

"Five." The blonde maelstrom counted and weaved in-between attack after attack with exhilaration. This was pretty good exercise. Sure, there no one with exeptional talent apart from a few oddballs, but he was restraining himself. Without his weapons this was good practice.

"Six" Another person hit the ground, this one covering his head in pain. Without a backwards glance, Naruto ran with quick steps over the rocky desert field to eliminate the ones competing in the center. He entered the fight like a comet, the first target was on the ground before he could let out a gasp. Naruto grabbed a handful of his hair and exposed the boy's throat. He must have realized where things were headed, because he cried out in surrender immediately after.

Naruto discarded him and pressed on, there were many one versus one scenarios taking place in the center. Three shuriken whizzed by his head, and a stray kunai bounced across the ground and over his feet. A misfired waterjet Jutsu was in the process of soaking the field and turning parts of the area into a muddy red goop.

The skill level in the center was significantly higher, Naruto saw much better movements here. Deciding to make things easy for himself, Naruto dug down into his Fuinjutsu pouch. He placed a painted sheet on the ground and sent his chakra through it.

The seal released a massive amount of chakra and thick black lines zigzagged out in patterns that quickly formed a vague hexagonal shape, the hiragana seen inside the inky lines made it obvious this was Fuinjutsu at work. The finished seal covered a big chunk of the center, and the moment it activated many cried out in distress and surprise. Now weightless, Naruto took a quick scan around him to see how his fellow Genin were handling zero gravity.

Most were having troubles, spinning helplessly around in midair or floating upside down. Someone began to yell with fright. Very few kept their cool.

Keeping his amusement down, Naruto narrowed his eyes with concentration and went through a myriad of different hand signs. He finished and held up his palm, where a unique wind-natured technique took shape. He proceeded with smashing the swirling chakra into the ground, where the technique disintegrated and immediately created a powerful air vacuum. Powerful winds rushed to fill the void, and in the process, it dragged with it a bunch of panicking Genin.

Naruto's blonde hair whipped around his face in the fierce wind, but he held himself firmly attached to the ground with chakra. The rush of air died out after three seconds, but the damage was done. Everyone was either hurtling through the air or bouncing across the ground towards the epicenter. Towards him.

Naruto lightly pushed off the ground and slowly drifted away towards the edge of the seal. He had a good view as the Genin crashed into each other and bounced about. He had been prepared for the seal to turn inactive around that time, but Naruto almost fell on his ass when he landed anyways. The switch back to normal levels of gravity were unpleasant and difficult to adjust to.

He was much better off than the competition. A few of which were loudly emptying their bowels. No one was getting back on their feet, although a few were trying without success. He didn't blame them, but neither did he show any sympathy when he indiscriminately grabbed their necks and squeezed their pressure points. They were like helpless chickens, no one recovered fast enough to put up much resistance.

Well, except one, the boy in spandex from earlier got up. The peculiar Genin shifted his feet slowly into combat stance, he was eyeing Naruto with intensity.

"You really are incredible, Naruto-kun." Rock Lee said, slightly out of breath. "I want to fight you!" He proclaimed loudly and clutched his fist.

Naruto stared at him and tried to ignore the two Chunin darting around to remove the unconscious Genin.

"Naruto-san." Hinata and the rest of the team was coming up behind him. He saw no one else on the ground, the rest of the competition was gone, apart from the bowl cut guy they were alone. "Careful, Rock Lee has a world class Taijutsu master." The Hyuuga stopped next to him. "Don't take him lightly."

"Duly noted." Naruto nodded and swiveled his eyes to Lee. "Let's go."

"Yosh! Let our fires of youth burn brightly!" Lee lowered his stance. "My weights are off Naruto-san, so you better not hold back."

 _He trains with weights on?_

Rock Lee kicked off and disappeared in such a potent burst of speed it might as well have been a Shunshin. He appeared in front of Naruto, who blanched at the raw display of speed. He had no time to-

Pain and vertigo hit him in equal measures, he spun in the air and lost his sense of up and down before he hit something hard and tumbled into the earth wall.

 _What the fuck just happened?_ Naruto asked himself, he was lying on the ground all of a sudden.

Needless to say, it was painful to get up, but he only flinched a couple of times. He had taken worse hits, his lungs could still take in oxygen. Something warm dribbled down his face from a cut, and from somewhere under his ear as well. He felt dizzy and had bad vision. Even so, Naruto walked towards the vague shapes he could see ahead.  
"I'm sorry, Lee. I underestimated you." He called out, it was painful not to limp. "Won't happen again, I assure you."

"Naruto-san . . . Are you okay? I used my full strength, I don't even think Neji could shrug that off." Lee approached him with his guard down. Of all the things Naruto had expected to hear, sympathy and worry was not one of them. This guy was such an oddity.

"Nothing to worry about. Let's continue." Naruto tried not to wheeze on the last few words. His ribs felt like they had some hairline fractures, but maybe not. Either way, he was hellbent on not showing weakness.

He slid into his stance, ready to fight. He was ready . . . but how had Hinata gotten behind Lee? Naruto watched with large eyes as the white eyed girl used her signature Hyuuga Taijutsu to strike Lee in the neck and the back in quick succession. The boy seized up immediately and fell over, he spasmed and tried to get back up, but to no avail. He was done for.

With a toss of her hair, which was out of its bun now, she walked up to him. Her pupil less eyes gave him a challenging stare, as if daring him to tell her she had done anything wrong. With a glance at Lee, who was still struggling to get up, Naruto rose to the bait.

"Dick move." He said simply. Her dignified face scrunched into a frown.

"You are obviously in worse shape than you are letting on." She told him in low tones. Naruto gave her a wry look. She was merely thinking of their victory, and he couldn't blame her for that. He thought it was obvious she had won by merely ending up on the same team as him, but she was the meticulous type. She would leave nothing to chance, it seemed.

"Right you are, miss." Naruto told her and stalked off. He paused beside Rock Lee, who had somehow gotten himself into a weird kneeling position.

"Sorry about the girl, Lee. We'll have a proper spar after this."

"I am not . . . done yet, It's not over. Not yet!" The boy was shaking from exertion.

"Lee, she closed several important Tenketsu points, you won't-"

"I know what she did!" He groaned in frustration. "I know this feeling very well . . . I know it's impossible to fight it, but I can't just quit! I gave a promise!" With renewed vigor, Lee kept trying to force his body to get up, without success.

Naruto let him be and stepped onto the red clay area. His teammates gathered beneath the only completely vacant tower, theirs.

Naruto stood still in the center and waited. He must have made a battered figure by now, his outfit was turning more ragged with each fight. His shoulder was covered in crusted blood, and two thin trails of blood went down his face and throat. _And she wants a repeat performance. I'm not a slot machine you can insert coins into and take out easy victories . . ._

The last whistle went off after what felt like just a few seconds. Naruto watched with blank eyes as the last of the competition jumped down and silently joined forces. They weren't stupid, they'd seen what he could do. Teaming up was the smart thing to do, and Naruto had to commend them. They were nine in total, and all of them had without speaking agreed to a temporary truce. All in order to remove the bigger threat first – him.

 _Too bad it won't do them much good._

The small group began to spread out into an uncoordinated half circle. Naruto held up a hand and formed half a hand sign with it. Nine Kage Bunshin popped up around him in a small semi-circle. Each clone was fast to unseal a weapon of some kind. Be it a Ninjato, or a Bo staff, or a Wakizashi, one even held an ornate Katana that was arguably too big for his size.

Naruto let out one word: "Go."

The clones demonstrated how effective coordination could be when they attacked. As they closed up on their target, each clone skirted to the side and swapped targets. The surprise worked surprisingly well. One had been expecting to deflect a small Tanto, but instead she was smacked in the head with the Bo staff.

Naruto stood perfectly calm and watched his clones fight. Their strength was split in nine, so they were unremarkable in many ways. Yet, they could still do good against weak opponents. At least his clones had the basics down, that was more than he could say about all of his opponents. Two of which were beaten and forced to submit after only half a minute, neither of the two had been able to cope with how his clones could change their targets at the drop of a coin.

That changed the tally to nine clones against seven trained Genin. Outnumbered now, the fight was starting to turn into an uphill battle for the Genin. Of course, they could take great personal risk and brush through an attack in order to pop a clone, but what would that do? Exactly, it was just a clone, the risk wasn't worth it. Naruto could make more.

Even so, one tried when desperation kicked in, and he was able to pop a clone that way. The effort cost him a functioning right arm, however. He was then taken down by an opportunistic clone who happened to be in the right place.

"I give up!" One Genin shouted loudly and threw away his kunai, he wasted no time before storming off the field, clearly furious with the entire fight. He was bleeding badly and had a slight limp.

 _Yeah, must be aggravating losing to clones._ Naruto thought to himself, _and demoralizing._ The last five looked close to quit as well.

However, they never gave up, the five fought admirably and made a back to back system that worked for a while. In the end the clones employed a collaboration Jutsu that forced the group to scatter. Singled out, they were quickly overwhelmed.

The rest of his team came up behind him as the last opponents were forced to the ground. They waited for an announcement to be made as there was no other team left to contest them. Naruto made a joke that no one laughed over, and the remaining time drained away slowly in awkward silence. Naruto thought it was probably the most anticlimactic victory he would ever have. When the proctor showed up to declare their victory it got no better. He whizzed onto the arena floor with a Shunshin and gave them a brief look.

Naruto dispelled his clones.

"Congratulations, your team won. I see you lack a teammate, but he also passed the test. You are all qualified to take the next test, which will take place tomorrow in the center island of the arena. Be there at noon."

"And the ones who lost?" Saburo asked, he looked significantly calmer. Genma rolled his senbon around.

"If they're fit to continue, they have an opportunity to make a comeback. Not that any of you need to concern yourself with this, but they can undergo another test, the ones who fail that one gets eliminated."

 _Rock Lee will get through that, no doubt._ Naruto thought.

"Anyhow, you're dismissed. Fair warning, _do not_ interfere in any active test areas as you leave the premise."

"Yes sir." Naruto replied candidly and watched as Genma took off in another shunshin. He turned to his temporary team. Saburo was the first to say anything.

"I didn't deserve to win, you guys did everything and I was just-"

"Let me stop you just there." Naruto cut him off, Saburo looked at him. "This may sound harsh, but you shouldn't have competed to begin with. What were your teachers thinking?"

"I-I don't know." He let out with a forlorn voice. "My teachers . . . are _fond_ of their titles as Shinobi, but they're not the real deal, they're just . . . all we got. I guess they wanted the prestige of having a student from our small village participate in this huge exam."

"Morons." Naruto let out in a breath.

"Tiny political gains at the risk of losing a student . . ." Hinata looked revolted.

"Be careful tomorrow if you're going to continue, there are unstable people participating." Naruto told him. Gaara came to mind.

Saburo gave a small nod, his bruised face looked tired. "I will, thank you. See you tomorrow." He gave another respectful nod before he departed. Hachiro gave them both a glance before he too shrugged and followed suit.

"Good luck." He said it as a goodbye.

"You too guys, good luck." Naruto told them and stood there for a while. He stayed there even until after they had disappeared, but not alone, Hinata stood beside him in silence. Both watched the sun dip lower in the sky.

"…"

"…"

"You don't strike me as the type who lingers." He told her after a while, still watching the horizon.

"Are you the type to linger then?" She asked, somehow amused. She turned her face to him, suddenly solemn. "I wanted to ask you a question."

Naruto met her gaze firmly, but nothing could have prepared him for the question. "Are you the Yondaime Hokage's son?"

 **A/N Well then! Another chapter done. I wrote the scene where Naruto and the Kyuubi meet. I don't think it's been done like this before. I chose to make Kurama ignorant of Naruto's past to give the two a completely blank slate to start off their relationship. Neither knows anything about the other. Except for imagined things and rumors, of which there are plenty.**

 **When it comes to Naruto's near godlike control inside the seal. Please, hold your pitchforks for a moment. Firstly, Naruto have not become a god, he's just incredibly powerful while** _ **inside**_ **the seal. Secondly, I feel like this has not been done before, I have some plans with this.**

 **Let me explain, Naruto's abilities in the seal is inspired from all those cardboard stories where Naruto and the Kyuubi meet, and after they become friends, Naruto magically rearranges the sewer Kurama is in into some sort of paradise. Yeah, you know them, there are** _ **many**_ **of these fics.**

 **But then this newfound incredible skill is forgotten and left in a corner. It's never used again, ever. So, Naruto's outlandish power inside the seal was a poke at all those fics, as well as me trying to do something different. For the record, Naruto will of course continue to use what he learned in the seal as the story goes on.**

 **The first test I feel okay with, Naruto – unbelievably - cannot always have incredible opponents each overtopping the last. Sometimes he has to fight scrubs, and that's okay. We will see more over the top fights soon enough, you can count on that.**

 **Anyways! Thanks for making it all the way down here! So many of you review and favorite the story, thanks a bunch. I appreciate all the support, thanks for the read guys! Until next time :)**

 **The Epic Pen, signing off.**


	8. Assignment

**A/N Hey guys! New installment!**

 **EDIT: No, there hasn't been an update, I'm sorry if some of you came here thinking that. I had to re-upload the chapter when people started to PM me and leave reviews about how they couldn't access it. Only a few people had this issue, and with some luck it should be okay now? Tell me if the problem is still there.**

 **Thanks a bunch for the reviews on the previous chapter! MM995 deserves special recognition for pointing out bad grammar and some illogiccal wording on my part. Thank you! I edited this post-haste!**

 **I was also humbled to realize you have recommended my story in your own fic: Through Hell and High Water. I would like to return the gesture, so dear readers, if you're looking for more quality stuff to read when done, check it out. MM995 is an excellent writer.**

 **I also want to express my gratitude towards TokehGecko, and Satoru Ryouma. Your viewpoints were a delight, and also to UpZ, for his lengthy and detailed review, I loved reading through that one.**

 **To everyone else, all I can say is, thank you!**

The Legacy Ascending

Assignment

 _~ In Konoha Arena - Previous Chapter ~_

 _Naruto met her gaze firmly, but nothing could have prepared him for her question. "Are you the Yondaime Hokage's son?"_

 **xXx**

For a brief moment, Naruto's brain shut down and a stony visage overtook his face. He said nothing, but the fact that he had almost stopped breathing must have been revealing to say the least. _I seized up, fuck._ His panicky mind began racing to come up with answers.

He looked up and saw she was examining him intently. He found her strange white orbs difficult to read. He realized then, that he had to lie like never before. He had to deceive her so thoroughly even Jiraiya would gape.

So, he allowed his lips to quirk into an amused smile and let out a small chuckle.

"Yeah, wouldn't that be something." He said and looked away in a sort of fond wistfulness. It was a completely fake gesture. "Son of The Yellow Flash, huh?"

He made his eyes turn glassy for just a couple seconds, before he snapped his attention back to Hinata, who was frowning at him.

"I mean, it's not impossible." He said and made himself sound intrigued by the idea. "I never knew my dad . . . My mother was killed right after she gave birth to me. I ended up alone, and the orphanage who took me in never told me anything."

"You had no one?" Her voice dropped an octave. Naruto imagined she was torn between compassion and suspicion.

"I was at first . . . I only found out who my mother was after I left that place, but my father is still hard to figure out." The first part was true, but the second part was a lie of course.

He continued before Hinata could ask another question. "I used to dream him up when I was younger, you know. In my head I made him out to be someone important and well-respected."

Naruto gave Hinata a smile. "The Yellow Flash definitely qualifies."

She gave him a measured look. "Walk with me." She finally said. She began walking at a brisk pace, Naruto had to really leg it to keep up with her.

"You look identical." She stated from ahead. "There are pictures of him in our history books, and you are his spitting image."

"Really!?" Naruto exclaimed, grateful that she could not see his face right then. "So, that's why you asked all of a sudden?" He tried for poised curiosity.

"Partly. Yes." She omitted, but she hesitated to elaborate. It struck him she might be trying to keep certain things secret as well. The two of them made no comment when they reached the wall of the fight pit and merely continued walking, but vertically.

Naruto wanted to derail her questioning somehow. So, he asked her a question of his own. "You're not a branch member, but part of the main family, correct?"

"That." He could hear her frown.

"'That', what?" Naruto wondered if he had somehow made things worse for himself.

"You . . . Know things. My clan differ between its members, we have the branch family, and the main family . . . But very few knows that. Not even my own teammates."

She paused to stare at him on top of the wall. Naruto smiled as he walked past her.

"I take it you skipped team building day?" Naruto quipped and jumped down to the other side. He didn't wait for her to follow him.

She hit the ground a few seconds later and trekked after him across the desert zone.

"The point." She raised her voice a bit. "Is that you are not like the others who came here for the exam. You strike me as too familiar with Konoha for this to be your first time here."

"That's because I have been here before." Naruto told her slowly, he had to nip this one in the bud. "I've also been in Sunagakure, and I've been in Kiri – before the rebellion began – and I've passed through Kumo, and over a dozen other nations. The thing is, I make it a habit to know a bit about the places I stay in, so that's why I know certain things about your clan. As a shinobi, I've made it my business to acquire information."

She was silent behind him for a while. Lumps of yellow grass began to appear on the ground, although the arena appeared to be enormous. He didn't think it would take much more than three minutes to walk through each of the zones. With the notable exception of the mountain zone perhaps.

"And, any useful intel? Anyone I should worry about?" Hinata was done being quiet. He thought she was being sarcastic, but he wasn't sure.

It didn't matter to him. He responded anyways. "Sabakuu no Gaara. He's dangerous and unstable. He sounded psychotic, the way he kept talking to his 'mother' . . ."

"I see . . ." She said and sped up her pace to walk beside him. Her white Hyuuga combat dress swooshed by her ankles as she walked. She seemed neutral to the point of disinterest, Naruto had to wonder if someone in team seven had told the other rookies about the Gaara incident.

Probably.

Naruto merely continued talking. "The Kiri team seemed formidable, and the Tsuchikage sent his granddaughter here, so you might want to be on guard if you see a girl from Iwa." He listed off.

"I know how Kurotsuchi looks like, but even so, you are being awfully helpful."

After shaking off some initial surprise, Naruto gave her a shrug. It made no difference to him if he was helping her, she arched her eyebrows at him.

"I'm not sure if I believe everything you say though . . . One thing, why don't you wear a forehead protector, Naruto-san?"

"I don't have one." He answered flatly and looked her up and down. "Why don't you wear some kind of insignia that marks you out as the next in line of the Hyuuga clan?"

She stopped in her tracks, they were at the edge of the desert now, the arena wall was just a stone throw away. "How did you know . . . my status?" Her voice was cool.

Naruto had stopped to look at her, and a smile was tugging at the corner of his mouth. "I've suspected it all day, I knew for a fact that a girl was the heiress, and when you said 'my clan' earlier as opposed to 'our clan', I felt a sense of entitlement there. It was a hunch really, but you confirmed it for me." He explained.

She looked displeased. "I still think your father is the Yondaime."

Naruto let out a bark of laughter. "Would that change anything?"

"It would mean you have the Will of Fire." She claimed. " . . . Bad times are coming, Naruto-san, and I don't know what part you'll play in it, but I'd like to have you on my side."

Naruto struggled to keep his face in check. Was she talking about the attacks? The possible invasion that was in the works? She halfway turned toward the Arena wall. "I have somewhere to be."

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Naruto's thoughts were in disarray.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Namikaze-san." She walked off briskly.

"Oh, really? You're gonna walk away after dropping that on me?"

"Admit who you are!" She called out before she started scaling the wall.

Her answer surprised him so much he almost forgot to keep up his charade.

"For fucks sake, I'm Naruto!" Faking the frustration was an easy task right then. She gave him the finger over her shoulder just as she disappeared over the wall. Naruto stared at the spot for several long seconds.

He let out a frustrated groan. "Fucking smartass!"

 **xXx**

 _The Hokage Office_

The Sandaime Hokage reclined into his black upholstered chair. He emptied the last of the tobacco contents of his pipe into an ash bowl on the desk. The crystal ball in front of him was slowly turning dark. It had just been used.

Someone knocked on the door, and a moment later one of his ANBU agents stepped inside. He knelt in the center of the room, a display of absolute obedience. "Hokage-sama. Jiraiya of the Sannin is downstairs."

"Send him in." He told the masked man. Hiruzen was pleasantly surprised, Jiraiya had tried arriving by the window last time. It was nice to see his reprimands still had an effect on the man. The old and wrinkled Hokage steepled his fingers and allowed his mind to wander. Naruto kept performing to his expectations, and in all the right ways.

Hiruzen had been enormously pleased to see Naruto use techniques he had not shown at all during the assessment. He was happy for it because it showed the boy could think for himself. Naruto wasn't annoyingly obstinate, nor was he slavishly obedient. He had a certain willfulness, a quality Hiruzen had been very much hoping to find in him.

Jiraiya walked in without announcing himself, he gave his old teacher a merry smile and sat down in front of the desk. Hiruzen could tell he was disappointed about something.

"What?" He asked.

"I see you've removed the bottle of sake." Jiraiya told him and gestured towards the corner of the desk. True enough, the spot usually reserved for refreshments was conspicuously devoid of any alcohol.

"You finished an entire bottle last time, but you can have tee if you like." The Sandaime's voice was slightly pointed.

"I'm good then. So, what's up?"

". . . Did you only come for the sake?"

". . . No, I mean, I might have been looking forward to it. You have some good stuff! So, eh, how's our Genin doing so far?"

The Sandaime let out a sigh. "Remarkably well, considering they're mostly rookies this year. Shikamaru stood out today."

"What did he do?"

"Nothing, he went to lay down and relax, when others approached him he convinced them combat was completely unnecessary. Which it was, the rules never specified any fighting or eliminations. Every single Genin in that bracket passed the test and moved on, I doubt Ibiki was pleased."

"And Naruto?" There was an amused lilt to Jiraiya's question.

"Like I asked, he's garnering a lot of attention. I was fascinated but not overly surprised to see him let someone else make decisions. I must admit Hinata acted shrewdly. She's grown a great deal . . ."

"Well, okay then, good to hear. But, what do you want from me?" Jiraiya was eager to get back to his writing, he was getting to a good part in his series.

"Just some conversation, but before I forget to ask this again, the Kage Bunshin? Why did you teach Naruto that Kinjutsu?"

Jiraiya gave his old sensei a raised eyebrow. "The lad had too big chakra reserves to get a grasp of the normal Bunshin, so I taught him a different version."

"Ahh, his reserves were that big even then?" The Sandaime was surprised.

"They sure were, and they've only gotten bigger over the years."

"Naruto made it obvious today he held back when we assessed him. A good thing to be sure with Danzo in the room, but I'd like it if you could be candid with me for a moment."

Jiraiya didn't respond immediately. "First" He finally replied. "I want you to be honest as well. What are you planning with Naruto?"

The Sandaime steepled his fingers together and perused Jiraiya over the oak desk.

"Please remember that we are trying to discourage other nations from accepting Orochimaru's approaches. Our results in the exam will yield some influence, and Naruto will be our frontrunner in that avenue." Hiruzen explained. "He will also be our intelligence gatherer among the Genin in the exam, I might use him to remove threats, and I _definitely_ want him to win. If he is able to make some foreign ties in the process of all this, then all the better. We are going to use Naruto to make Konoha seem unbeatable, he will be the face of our next generation."

"I know all of this, I was thinking about your long-term plans." Jiraiya pressed. The Sandaime gave his old pupil a slightly strained smile.

"I doubt I will be here for the long run, Jiraiya . . . I have some hopes for him, of course. Ideas even. But what Naruto makes of his future is up to him."

"What ideas?" Jiraiya pushed.

". . . Do you still believe in that dream of yours, Jiraiya? True peace?" The Sandaime answered him with a question.

"I do." Jiraiya didn't hesitate to respond.

"The council does not think it's possible. Lord Nidaime did not think the world was ready for it yet. Danzo does not even believe in the concept . . ."

Jiraiya kept silent.

"Personally, I think that given the right kind of person, just about anything is possible. Minato convinced me of that. I think the world has always been ready, but it needs a unifier. A brilliant leader who draws people in with kindness and charisma, but also an ambitious person who can remain uncorrupt."

Hiruzen bored his eyes into Jiraiya's. "Konoha will need a new Kage soon."

After a moment of silence, Jiraiya scoffed. "That's pretty much the same spiel you used to rope me into taking the runt with me all those years ago."

"It worked then." Hiruzen smiled.

"It still does, I agree with every last point." Jiraiya said, but it was clear he had more to say.

"But?"

"But I know it wasn't meant to convince me this time, and I'm sorry to say it, but Naruto won't take that mantle. He might have potential, but he doesn't want to lead. He is completely different from his parents in that manner, he takes after me in that regard."

"I know. That desire has yet to spark in him, but I have hope. Naruto wants to improve and become better, and a man's worth is no greater than his ambitions." Jiraiya was sure he was quoting someone with that last line.

"So, will you tell me exactly how much Naruto is capable of or not?" The Sandaime asked again.

Jiraiya tossed his arms to the sides in a defeated manner. "Fine. Truth is, Naruto is already an accomplished Shinobi in many ways. However, in this exam we only get to see how he fights with the training wheels on. If he were to fight an actual enemy he would of course use his skills very differently, not to mention employ deadlier Jutsu. Could you give me a scenario?"

Hiruzen already had one in mind.

"Very well, let's say he has to fight an S-rank opponent, someone who are bound to outclass him. Orochimaru for instance, a face-off." The quick response stumped Jiraiya, but not for long.

"Okay . . in that case . . ." Jiraiya began to detail exactly what he thought would happen if his student and old teammate were to fight.

Sarutobi Hiruzen allowed a smile to graze his face at what he heard.

 **xXx**

 _Konoha Arena_

Naruto showed up on location with time to spare the next day. The sky was completely covered by grey rain clouds, and it had just started to rain lightly. He didn't mind, his attire today was made to withstand the elements. He wore a spotted grey combat jacket and matching pants. The fabric was thick and would absorb some damage, and in the foggy weather it would make him very hard to spot. His right hip had two oblong compartments which held several small scrolls – some of which were blank while others were pre-written seals. His pouch of needles, kunai and shuriken were strapped to his right thigh.

His special spiral tattoos were stocked with weapons, and he felt ready for whatever the day could throw at him. He just hoped he would be able to keep out of harms reach. His previous outfit from yesterday had been thrashed, he would have stitched it up, but it had been completely ruined from the explosions and the piercing snakebites and whatnot. He himself walked with a spring to his step. He always recuperated fast.

As he stepped into the clearing he passed by a large crowd who were all trying to get a good look at a massive blackboard. Naruto threw it a cursory glance but didn't stop to examine it. The names on the board meant very little to him.

He continued onwards through the crowd. At first, he had to squeeze past people, but once he got noticed, people shied away. His first day had made him a person of notoriety it seemed. It made it easier to move up ahead and that suited him just fine.

He spotted familiar people further up, Sakura's pink hair was simply unmistakable. The other Konoha rookie teams were there as well. The Hyuuga heiress stood on the outskirt of the group, he decided he would do his best to ignore her. He stepped up behind Sakura and Sasuke and put a hand on their shoulders. He felt Sasuke stiffen, and Sakura jumped around, arms flailing.

"Boo." He said with a lame smile, and the Uchiha noticeably slackened.

"N-Naruto! Don't do that again!" Sakura cried and clutched her chest.

"I almost burned you alive." Sasuke told him and turned around.

"That wouldn't have been so bad in this drizzle." Naruto grinned at them.

"Ugh! I hate the rain." Sakura complained loudly and crossed her arms. He wouldn't say she was dressed for the weather.

"It's just a tiny sprinkle." Kosuke had stepped up beside Sakura and Sasuke.

"It is now." Shikamaru agreed and took two steps towards them. He looked very glum with his hands in his pockets. "But I feel like it's only going to get worse throughout the day."

The Naara gave Naruto a look. Then: "Someone came dressed for the occasion."

"Good equipment is very important, but good clothes are equally so." Naruto told him. He caught Sakura looking down at her own outfit, she probably felt underdressed now. Naruto tried to move the conversation along. "Soo, congratulations on getting through the first day, how did everyone do?" He wasn't asking anyone in particular, and the last of the rookies – curious – trotted up and formed an uneven circle. They were ten in total counting him, none of them had been disqualified. Considering the odds, that alone was incredible.

"It went okay, I guess." Shikamaru gave a small unbothered shrug. Naruto got the impression he didn't want to reveal anything – careful _and_ clever.

"Ha! yesterday was a joke, nothing even happened!" That was the boy with face paint, the Inuzuka. Naruto didn't have to prod, the guy was intent to go on. Shikamaru was giving him an annoyed stare, but the Inuzuka didn't notice.

 _Naturally, the Naara doesn't trust me with any information, that's only healthy thinking._

"Shika made the entire thing a bore, no one fought. He just laid down to sleep in the red circle!"

"Really? That's clever." Naruto commended, he had not considered that.

"Thanks." Shikamaru replied, it looked like he was keeping in a sigh. "The supervisor told us the team with the most members inside the circle would win when the timer expired. So, if every team had the same number of members inside the circle, wouldn't that make it a tie?"

"An altogether risky move, Shikamaru-san, the supervisor could have failed all of you." The tall bespectacled boy spoke up, he looked like an Aburame to Naruto.

"I wouldn't have cared all that much either way." Shikamaru admitted without shame. "But he didn't."

"Hmph!" The indignant huff came from the only other blonde besides himself in the group, the girl looked vexed. "While you, Kiba and Kosuke were slacking off as usual, the rest of us were actually fighting to keep our spot in the exam!"

"Uh huh . . . Remind me on how you got through your bracket again?" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at her. She blushed and stuttered.

"I-I, well I was the first one to get sent down!"

"She was also the first one to get eliminated." The Aburame stated plainly. His dry voice made the statement funnier than it probably was, and many laughed.

"Oi! I got a bad matchup, okay!" Ino barked at him. The Aburame looked skeptical at that. "I managed to stay in the fight throughout test, but truth be told, the only reason I and Ino passed was because of our teammate from Kiri. She removed the entire competition almost singlehandedly. I'm not sure what she was better at, Kenjutsu, or Raiton."

Those words stirred Naruto's imagination, she sounded like a fun opponent. He allowed his mind to wander for a bit and only listened in on the conversation with half an ear. He was looking past the group when he saw a mop of red hair stride past several Genin. If the gourd on his back was not enough to mark him out, his two siblings walking in his shadow surely was.

Naruto tensed in indecisiveness. He wanted to help Gaara somehow. Yesterday after the exam, he had tried to seek out the Suna Jinchuriki. The Uzumaki wanted to examine the seal containing the Ichibi, but the team from Sunagakure had not been in their room yesterday. Nor did they show up after dusk.

Deciding against apathy, Naruto excused himself and stalked after the trio from Suna. He ignored the questions tossed after him. "I'll see you later." He called out over his shoulder.

The Rookies stared as Naruto disappeared in the crowd. "Some people just can't stay still, I guess." Kosuke murmured.

"Yeah but living life like that must be exhausting." Choji commented from where he stood in the circle, gobbling down fried bacon straight out of a plastic bag. He looked completely unbothered by the rain. He sucked a finger clean and looked at Hinata.

"What about you, Hinata, you didn't show up to the barbeque after the first test yesterday, how did you do?"

"Yeah. Hinata, why didn't you show up?" Sakura added in. "Everyone came, we thought maybe you got eliminated . . ."

"Of course not." Hinata replied haughtily. "The test went smoothly."

"Your opponents were weak too?" Sasuke asked, some of the rookies blinked. The Uchiha was so quiet it was sometimes easy to forget he was still there. Hinata considered the question for half a moment.

"Some of them were, naturally, but most of them were decent. The test went smoothly because I – much like Shino-san and Ino-san – landed an extraordinary teammate who more or less took out the entire competition alone."

"Geez, there are crazy, strong people everywhere in this exam." Kiba moaned in complaint.

"This one's familiar though, it was Naruto-san." Hinata revealed drily.

"That guy again?" Kiba pouted.

"Did he reveal any of his strengths?" Sasuke wanted to know.

"Not much, but I understand why you praised his Fuinjutsu, he had some ridiculous seals. At one point he removed gravity for a little while."

Sasuke took that piece of knowledge far better than the other rookies, who were surprised to hear Fuinjutsu like that even existed.

"Honestly, he seems ridiculously strong." Shikamaru was frowning. " I mean, the wounds from his fight with the proctor would have debilitated most people. He should have slowed down at the very least."

Hinata shook her head. "Naruto-san looked perfectly fine to me yesterday."

Shikamaru let out a sigh of suffering. "Troublesome."

After a moment of indecision, she decided to add something. "It's worth mentioning that Naruto-san never needed any teammates, me included. But even though we must have felt like useless baggage to him at certain points, he still watched our backs. For whatever reason."

Que stares. Hinata raised an eyebrow and tried her best not to let the added attention make her warm. "I am merely trying to say he seems . . . honorable. Nothing else." She elaborated.

Shino gave her a nod of acknowledgement. "That might be useful, duly noted, Hyuuga-san."

"Yeah, super comforting." Kiba quipped sarcastically. Hinata swiveled her pair of white, cold eyes at him. And he shrunk in on himself.

"Well, it's better to be stuck-" Shikamaru reflexively stopped talking when a loud bang went off somewhere inside the crowd. A bright flash and another smaller bang went off. Silence set in. The rookies and the rest of the crowd around them stared towards the commotion, but it was hard to see anything through the crowd.

Then, a familiar voice could be heard through the din of whispers.

"-Okay? Well, you think about it, my offer still stands you know. It's never too late to get help!"

Naruto waded through the crowd, and back to the spot he left earlier. He shook his jacket and wet, grainy sand scattered in the grass around him.

"I had a chat with Gaara." He said when no one outright asked anything, but he kept his voice low, he didn't want anyone to listen in.

"Brilliant idea." Kosuke commented in his usual meek tone.

"Yeah, maybe not my best decision." Naruto acquiesced easily.

"Why though?" Sakura was disturbed as to why he would even want to talk with Gaara in the first place.

Naruto hesitated. ". . . I know something about what he struggles with, I told him as much and offered him some help. He did _not_ like that, not even one bit."

"What did he do?" Sasuke was curious.

"I'm pretty sure he tried to kill me." Naruto said it as if it was an everyday occurrence. "Word to the wise; try and stay away from the Suna team in general, but especially Gaara, he's not right in the head."

"ATTENTION!" Ibiki's voice bellowed out from the podium. Sakura and Ino both jumped in surprise. Everyone seized talking and the field became eerily quiet. Ibiki continued speaking.

"Yesterday sixty-three Genin had their names crossed out." Ibiki gave them a grizzled smile and nodded towards the blackboard. "If you want to keep from being eliminated today, you need to keep your calm and use your head. Well then, our judges are ready and waiting, so let's not tarry." With an athletic bounce from the podium, Ibiki hit the grass. The man walked to the outskirts of the clearing where all the old ruined structures and stone pillars stood. The statue Naruto had knocked over the previous day still laid there.

"I want you to form a line here!" Ibiki bellowed into the crowd. "I don't care where the line begins, but it ends _here_ , understood?" He made a chopping motion with has arm to punctuate 'here'.

"I won't tolerate any fighting, the offending part in such cases will be eliminated post haste." The warning was delivered calmly compared to his usual gusto. "Now then, two of my Chunin will make sure you keep the line, and they will tell you when to proceed. Do not antagonize them. Lastly, once it is your turn, proceed through the two stone pillars-" Ibiki pointed both out. "-and _follow_ the marked path. In this case, treading off the beaten path will result in elimination. Any questions?"

The mass of Genin began to swivel heads to see if anyone would ask anything.

"You never specified anything about the test . . ." A voice somewhere called out.

"The test itself is an oral examination. Theory, in other words." Ibiki announced that as if it should have been obvious. "Do your best, your scores will be posted."

"Posted? Where?" Someone wondered.

"On the blackboard alongside your name, and to the public once the first phase of this exam is over. Anyone else curious about something?" There were no takers this time.

"Good." Ibiki nodded in approval. "So, what are you standing around gawking for? Form the line." He told them impatiently.

People began shuffling around at Ibiki's behest. A mixed feeling of frustration and despair settled over Naruto. A theoretical test posed a problem, for the very simple reason that it was going to be difficult to finish in first place. Yet, the Sandaime had been clear on this, Naruto had to win in every facet of the exam.

Results that were less than stellar were unacceptable. Naruto wasn't worried about passing the test, he was worried he might score below someone else.

He and the rookies settled into the long line, and the group began to quietly converse, Naruto was consumed by his own thoughts and hardly listened in. For a budding teenager, he knew he was exceptionally bright, but he didn't have the confidence to say he was the most educated person in the line. That would be the height of hubris.

So, naturally, he had to come up with something.

He looked at the line, and found it was not going anywhere. The test would likely take up the entire day. No one would miss him if he vanished for a few minutes.

"Excuse me guys, I'm going for a bathroom break."

 **xXx**

Umino Iruka shuffled his papers together and spread them across the desk he was occupying. The other judges in the room had already settled into their chairs and were trying their best to ignore each other. After a tense introduction earlier, no one had tried to broach conversation.

The cabin they were in was well hidden. A subtle, yet powerful Genjutsu kept it concealed in the forest section of the Arena. The small cottage had always been in the forest, and instead of razing it during construction, Konoha had decided to make use of it. The building consisted of only one room, and it was completely empty apart from five very slim wooden desks and five complementary chairs. There was an old fireplace and a stone chimney on the east wall, but other than that there was nothing else of note.

Despite the uncomfortable atmosphere, Iruka was excited about his job for the day. Questioning and grading his former students was going to be especially fun.

The door opened and a head poked through. "Morino-san just finished, the first Genin will be here in a minute or two."

The person did not wait for a reply and closed the door behind him.

Iruka exhaled slowly and sat down in his chair. Time to see how his students would hold up in this competetion!

 **xXx**

It took several hours of standing around and talking, but eventually the rookie group from Konoha finally reached the end of the line – Naruto among them. The weather had worsened, rain was now steadily pouring from the sky. Some Genin had become wet through their clothes and soaked to the bone. Three people had been disqualified earlier because of an argument that had turned into a vicious fight.

Other than that, not much of note had happened. Naruto had gotten to know the Konoha Genin a bit better, but several minutes had often gone by without anyone speaking at all – Naruto had blamed this on the shitty weather for the most part.

"Come on, one of you move along." A Chunin by the stone pillars urged. He was talking to the group as a whole, when no one immediately jumped at the opportunity Naruto seized the chance. He was done sampling rain for the day.

"I'll go." He said and gave the Chunin a nod as he stepped past the two stone columns. He gave the rookies a small wave before he directed his focus onto the path. The trail had become muddy with rain and was filled with countless tracks from earlier Genin who had stomped through it. He avoided the muddiest parts.

After walking through a few twists and turns, a bridge came out of nowhere. A wooden suspension bridge that would take him of the small center island and into what looked like the forest zone. Naruto didn't pause and walked on, he had to smile when he saw signs of people having slid on the muddied planks. On the other side, Naruto continued to follow the path into the forest zone.

It was only after a minute of walking or so that he came to a natural stopping point. A small clearing that sort of shimmered when you looked at it from certain angles. While Genjutsu had never been his forte, this particular piece of illusion was so ramshackle it was hard not to notice. He held up his hands and dispelled the influence with a chakra flare.

A small wooden cabin materialized, a chimney protruded from the roof, there was no smoke, but there was a door. Moving closer, Naruto did the only natural thing, he grabbed the handle and went inside.

What greeted him was no surprise. Five Shinobi. One from each of the big five. Three men and two women. They sat behind a slim desk each, and they all looked up when he walked in. Not waiting to be told what to do, Naruto moved to the center of the room, where a small puddle accumulated from previous Genin lay. The young blonde stood broad-shouldered and put both arms behind his back.

"Naruto." He stated when no one immediately asked him his name. They all knotted it down.

"I'm ready, ask away." He added to them.

The person farthest to his right cleared his throat. "To the point, very good Naruto-san. Well then, let's see . . ." The brown-haired man was in his early twenties by Naruto's estimation, and probably a Chunin. He was Konoha's representative, revealed by his forehead protector.

"Can you tell me-" He twirled a pen in his hand and looked at Naruto. "Who in society has chakra?"

". . . The answer to that is everyone. If any of us run out of chakra completely, we die. That goes for everyone, not just Shinobi. We all produce chakra to some degree." Naruto answered succinctly. The Konoha judge gave him a nod and scratched off something.

The woman on the left side of the room gave of an annoyed harrumph. "You start of too simple Iruka-san."

"Most Genin get that one wrong, Shigeri-san." The man, Iruka, defended himself.

The woman called Shigeri, dug her eyes into Naruto, her headband revealed her to be from Kumo. "Can you perhaps explain what the terms spiritual energy and physical energy means?"

"Well, Spiritual energy is harnessed in our mind, while physical energy is collected from our body. It's when these two are molded together, that chakra is created." Something popped into his head just then, memories of questions and answers, and a lot of it. He had to blink a few times. Although he had been waiting for it, it was still hard to process all of the information without seeming suspicious.

He coughed slightly to clear his throat and buy some time, but the judges must have noticed the odd slip in composure. He tried his best to continue.

"I-I should add . . . that there are of course ways to improve both of the aforementioned. For instance, physical energy will increase if you train and exercise, and err . . . stimulants have been proven to have a positive effect on our physical energy. Spiritual Energy on the other hand, will increase as you become more experienced, but you might also increase it by studying, even meditation can work for some people."

The woman looked at him with a furrow in her forehead. Naruto waited with his best polite smile. Unbeknownst to them, he was cheating. He knew exactly which question would come next. And the ones after that.

The man beside her let out a hearty laugh. "At least you tried, Shigeri-san."

"Shut up, Hisato!" Shigeri shot out venomously and folded her arms beneath her breasts.

"Why is chakra control important? Explain that and how to improve it." The man, Hisato, was the one questioning him this time.

Naruto was already more collected by now, and he dove headfirst into his answer.

"Okay, to start, I think controlling your chakra is more important than most people realize, because the key to using your chakra properly is not having lots of it, but very good control over it. A Shinobi should only ever mold as much chakra as he or she needs. If they mold more chakra than necessary, not only will the excess chakra be wasted, but they might mess up the technique as well. On the other hand, if you mold too little chakra, the technique won't be effective. Because of this, chakra control is crucial.

Now, to improve chakra control, you need to challenge yourself. The best thing you can do is to use your chakra regularly, and experiment with it-" Naruto abruptly took his right arm and wiped down his wet combat jacket, the drops clinging to the fabric vanished. He did this a few more times, then he held out his arm.

The five judges peered at the small glob of water in his hand, it was no bigger than a bird egg, and formed like a sphere. The water inside the sphere was swirling gently. Abruptly, Naruto turned his hand upside down, but the water defied gravity and clung to his palm.

"I am not a Suiton user, I'm merely demonstrating how far chakra control and shape transformation can take you."

He gave them a slight smile and allowed the water in his hand to fall down and splash over his boots.

"My point, is that chakra is nearly limitless in its uses, and the key to using it properly is chakra control. And yet, the common steps most Genin undertake in order to improve their control over it fails to promote this kind of thinking. Consider the leaf concentration exercise, or the tree climbing and water surface walking. I know for a fact these exercises are common to hand out in the big nations, but why? Honestly, they kill our ingenuity. Chakra has a solution for most problems, but we need to learn how to use it to its potential. In order to get the best control over our chakra, we need to adapt to how our chakra works, not have our chakra adapt to how we _want_ it to work."

Naruto finished, satisfied. "That was all." He told them when no one said anything.

". . . Uhm, yes, thank you, that was . . . more than sufficient." Hisato came to his senses. "Shou-san?"

A man with shoulder length brown hair and uncaring eyes moved slightly in his chair. He was the Iwagakure representative. "Very well, listen closely to this scenario."

He paused for a tiny moment, then he began.

"You are leading a mission, and the team you are in charge of has the objective to acquire something of vital importance. However, just as you are about to reach this objective in a remote area, you are ambushed. They are _more_ than twice the size of your team, and the situation is looking grim. You have to make a hasty decision, and it boils down to a few different options . . ."

Naruto waited expectantly.

"Identify and explain each of your alternatives." The man from Iwagakure was smiling. Naruto acted appropriately put out by the very much expected question.

Humming to himself, Naruto adapted a thoughtful face. "I see." He allowed some time to pass before he went into his answer.

"Well, option number one:" Naruto held up his hand and ticked off a finger. "Retreat. I could decide to have my team escape the ambush and avoid engagement. This one I feel is the safer option, but it's not wrong."

"Option number two:" He ticked off another finger. "Engage. I could have my team attempt to combat the ambushers and defeat them. However, I would only ever do this if I felt very confident about my team or I had some sort of plan or ace in my sleeve."

"Option Number three." A third finger went up. "Surrender. I could tell my team to lay down their weapons and let me try the diplomatic approach, there's a high risk this ends up with us becoming their captives."

Naruto put down his arm. "These are the options it boils down to, but of course, there are countless varieties to these, I could for example sacrifice a team member to get us away. Which would be a different variation to the first alternative I listed."

The Iwagakure sensor stared at him over steepled fingers, he was devoid of expression. "And what you choose to do?" He asked, leaning forward in his seat.

"It depends on the situation of course; may I ask some questions?" Naruto asked back.

"As many as you want." The man from Iwa acquiesced. Naruto liked hearing that.

"How big is my team?" Naruto shot of the first question like a detective digging for answers.

"You are five including yourself." Was the calm reply.

"So, because the ambushers are _more_ than double my own force, they should be twelve at least, but let's say thirteen. The site we are on, you mentioned it was a remote place, so I take it no civilians are around?"

"Correct."

"And the place itself, is it big?"

"It's a deserted temple, and the room your team is in is large enough to fit a gathering of a hundred people comfortably."

"How many entrances is there to this large temple room?"

"Four, and that is without considering any windows or other ways of entering."

"I take it there are connecting rooms to the one we are trapped inside then?"

"There is, one of these rooms has the objective in it."

"Well then, in that case, I would engage the enemies." Naruto declared boldly.

Without warning, he pulled out a blank sheet from his Fuuinjutsu pouch. He walked over and spread it out on the man's desk. He picked up an unused pencil lying on the desk and drew a fairly big square.

"Could you please point out the entrances for me?" Naruto politely asked the man opposite him. Said man had been momentarily surprised at having his privacy invaded, but the question forced him to recover his composure. The other judges arched their necks to try and get a glimpse of what was being drawn.

"Here, here, here and here." He placed his finger on four different spots.

"Going by what you said earlier, there must be some windows on these walls as well, correct?"

"Not windows really, but open alcoves that lead to connecting hallways and different rooms of the temple."

"Even better." Naruto added these details to the simple representation, and a small dot in the center of the square to represent his hypothetical team. With a nod of thanks Naruto stepped back to his spot and held up the illustration. He pointed.

"This is my team." He said, "and this is how I would take out the enemies and acquire the objective."

All of the judges leaned in with interest, none of the previous Genin had claimed something so bold. Or gone so in depth with their answers.

"I would create shadow clones to make confusion, but not just clones of myself, I would have some clones transform into my teammates. I would then have the clones scatter in every direction – creating chaos. Now, are any of you familiar with the concept of 'Defeat in Detail'?"

"Naturally." The man from Iwagakure claimed. The others did not look as certain. "Are you saying you would attempt to win by . . . scattering the enemies before picking them off?" He was intrigued. This was tactics far beyond Chunin level.

"In a sense, keep that in mind as I go through the scenario." Naruto smiled at having found a fellow tactician. The other representatives were clearly not following them, but they would understand in a minute.

"Considering the size of the ambush, this mission ought to have been B-rank at the very least, but probably A-rank. Agreed?" He shot the judges a quick look to see if everyone was on board with his thinking, there were no protests.

"On that assumption, the five-man squad I'm part of should be a tightly knit unit, and thus have rehearsed the most common cohesive attacks and movement patterns."

"Absolutely." The man from Iwa agreed, his eyes held interest now.

"I would signal to my team to employ a pattern that has the team scatter and reconvene farther back in the room, by the entrance door." Naruto pointed out the spot on his illustration. "I would make this signal before creating all of the clones."

Some of the judges began to nod in understanding.

"In the Shadow Clone chaos, I think this would go by mostly unnoticed, barring a few perceptive individuals. No matter, because my team will quickly follow my lead and slip down a hallway." Naruto drew a couple of arrows to illustrate the series of events.

"From here on out, my team will be taking on the enemy. Instead of running around looking for the objective and hoping we luck out, I'll make my team hide and lie in wait."

"Ambush the ambushers?" Shigeri asked unimpressed. "That won't do you much good when they nearly outnumber you three to one sweetie."

"I agree wholeheartedly." Naruto told her. "Luckily, we will be outnumbering them."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "How, exactly?"

"Defeat in detail." Naruto repeated the phrase from before with a smile. "The attackers have a greater number, but my team managed to avoid the initial ambush by scattering and grouping up out of sight. The enemy commander will no doubt issue a number of commands in response to this. With us gone in the clone chaos, he will surely send at least a few of his men to guard the objective. Let's say he sends two, just to have a number."

Naruto paused for a moment to gather his thoughts.

"Now, the enemy commander wants to find us quickly, we could either be trying to locate the objective, or escaping. He is not expecting us to lie in wait. So, he splits his force into search teams that can cover ground quickly. Assuming they were thirteen and that two of his men were sent off to protect the objective, he now has eleven Shinobi at disposal which he splits into three teams, these teams quickly scrounge through the area. Which is exactly what _I_ want, because now, when my team sees a group of enemies approaching, we will be the ones outnumbering them. This is the principle of Concentration of Force. I have my entire force present, while the enemy approaching us only has a fraction of their force with them."

The representative from Iwagakure was nodding along to his explanation, the other judges were looking at the illustration with dawning realization.

"By now, I'm sure you can see where this scenario is going, so I won't spend much time going into the details of it. But my team will systematically take down our isolated enemies and attempt to gradually but swiftly destroy their whole force, before finally securing the objective. All of this is possible because my concentration of force is larger than the enemies at the point of contact, thus allowing my team to bit by bit destroy a much larger force. The enemy suffers a defeat in detail."

The man from Iwagakure smiled.

"Very well formulated, Naruto-san, I see you have been studying the Nidaime quite a bit."

"Yes, sir."

"Well, this was by far the best answer I will get today. Even so, your strategy hinges on a few things you never mentioned, I'll give you the best possible score if you can tell what those are."

Naruto pondered on this for a moment.

"Well, there are some things I can think of . . . The first is the enemy commander, in this scenario I made him overconfident. A complacent leader, if he was a decent commander, things would have turned out differently."

"Correct."

"Some people would make the argument that fighting off a fractioned force in this way wouldn't work once fatigue sets in. They would be right, but soldier pills and medic-nin can work miracles in prolonged combat scenarios like the one I just illustrated."

"True, good point."

"The only other thing that comes to mind is the odds of there being a sensor in the enemy ranks, which would have made hiding very difficult, and I would have been forced to do something very different. That said, there is a reason we have the saying, 'No plan survives enemy contact'. Unforeseen events will occur out in the field, but I believe there is always a chance to turn a situation around. As long as you keep thinking on your feet and keep ahead of the enemy, an opportunity will present itself." Naruto finished.

"Yes. Wonderful, you did extremely well. That will be all from me." The man leaned back into his chair, looking very satisfied.

"A final question then, Naruto-san." This came from the only other Kunoichi in the room, the Kirigakure representative. She was looking at him through dark strands of hair.

"What is Genjutsu, how do you us it and how do you counter it?"

"Genjutsu is a jutsu category that requires chakra." Naruto began slowly. "However, unlike Ninjutsu, the effects of Genjutsu are not real. People who use Genjutsu generally do so because they want to trick their opponents, but it's a very specialized branch. Most shinobi never try to learn it, simply because Genjutsu is very hard to learn. The control you need to use Genjutsu is so precise that very few people can do it. I would go so far as to call the art a niche branch."

The judges knotted down his points.

"The way Genjutsu works is through a person's chakra flow. A Genjutsu user attacks this flow with the intent to target the cerebral nervous system, thereby affecting the five senses. It sounds simple when I explain it, but it's a difficult process. I usually employ Genjutsu through eye-contact, but you can also use sound, or even physical contact if you are able to get close enough."

Naruto took a slight pause in order to clear his throat.

"Now, Genjutsu can be countered in a few different ways, but the best way to counter it is to avoid it altogether." He gave the judges a small smile.

"Dropping a smokescreen or creating a mist will at the very least prevent ocular Genjutsu. However, if realize you are caught in an illusion, a common solution is pain. Stabbing yourself can bring you back to your senses, literally. A better option I would argue, is to flare up your chakra flow. If done correctly, this will remove any influence over your chakra, thus cancelling out any Genjutsu."

He let out a small breath. "That is all, thank you." He said and gave a small bow.

The Kunoichi from Kirigakure looked at her fellow judges. "I believe we are ready to give our rating."

The blonde boy held his breath in anticipation.

"On your first question, you scored-"

 **xXx**

Later, after having left the small cabin in the woods. Naruto was treading carefully after a Konoha ANBU, a kunoichi. Where were they going? Naruto did not know. Why was he being taken somewhere by ANBU? He had not been told. The woman was tight lipped.

She had been leaning against the dilapidated cabin, waiting for him to finish. The moment he had walked outside, she had stepped from the wall and ordered him to follow her.

Naruto saw no reason to argue. Not with an ANBU. Although her mask of choice was a cute feline of some kind, Naruto knew not to disregard ANBU on an active order. So, he walked in her footsteps and kept his eyes on her swishing ponytail.

 _Purple. What an unusual hair color._

The path took them to a sheer drop, Naruto could hear the river below. The woman in front of him gave no warning before hopping off the ledge. Not about to be left behind, Naruto followed after. He hit the river with bent knees and chakra flowing out from his feet. He managed to keep his shoes from getting submerged and soaked. The constant rain made him wet enough as it was.

The two crossed the water and walked up the grassy banks on the other side. All of a sudden, the ANBU stopped and held up a flat hand. "Wait here." She told him, before briskly walking ahead without him.

If this was a trap, it would be sprung now. Naruto did not think that would be the case here. Instead, a broad set man stepped out from the tree line. The grizzled veteran stopped short of him, his gaze measuring.

"I was starting to wonder when we were going to do this." Naruto spoke first.

Ibiki grunted and threw him a small object, a leaf carved out of wood. Naruto caught it and gave the man a raised eyebrow. The man better not be judging his methods.

"What?" Naruto asked in a level tone, but slightly tinged with fierceness.

Ibiki kept staring at him, and Naruto felt like a great many things the man had been told was now being weighed up against what the man was seeing for himself. After a short but tense moment, the man deigned to speak. "Let's not dwell on yesterday – that mess I attribute to the Hokage."

"Agreed." Naruto seconded, but he was surprised to actually hear Konoha's interrogation leader blame his Hokage for something.

"If only I'd been given your file . . ." Ibiki rumbled.

Naruto could have told the man there was in fact, no such file in existence. There were no files on Naruto, there were no pictures, and even when mentioned in other reports and missives, his real name was never used.

But he did not say any of those things. Because as far as the world was concerned, Uzumaki Naruto did not officially exist.

Not yet, in any case.

"Any objectives, sir?" Naruto interrupted the man's reverie. The Jonin dug his eyes into Naruto.

"Those are good eyes, you will do nicely." The man began to absently scratch his stubble.

Naruto didn't know how to respond to that, so he kept silent.

From within his flak jacket, Ibiki withdrew a folder. He held it with both hands for a moment, his eyes were harder now. Hard and grey as flint.

"Your targets." The interrogation leader told him. "Study them tonight."

Naruto gingerly took the folder, there were files on three people inside it.

"Tomorrow you will eliminate them, permanently."

 **A/N And I finished another one. Go me, huh?**

 **I've gotten a person on board who will help shape the story and point out my mistakes, his name on the forum is SamHetField and I would like to extend my thanks to him. I appreciate the help man! (additional beta-readers will still be welcome if they want to pitch in.) :D**

 **I'm sure you have a few questions concerning the chapter, and I'm sorry about the cliffie, but let me just say that the cliffhanger will already be resolved in the next chapter.**

 **Which will be posted . . . I dunno, a month or two from now I guess. Sorry for being a turtle.**

 **Have a good one guys, the Epic Pen signing off.**

 **PS! People Keep talking about pairings and whether this will be a Harem in the review section, and I was wondering if I should start a poll here to see what people really want, thoughts on this?**


	9. Targets

**A/N Back again with another update folks! Wohoo! I've decided what to do concerning the nature of pairings and girls in general. So, this will be the plan: Naruto, in this story, will meet many different girls. Some will like him, he will like some of them. He will have some flings, enjoy life as it were, and then move on. I don't plan on making a harem, but Naruto will definitely experience different girls. Does that satisfy most of you?**

 **Now, on with the show!**

The Legacy Ascending

Targets

 _"Tomorrow you will eliminate them, permanently."_

 **xXx**

 _~ In Konoha – Naruto's apartment ~_

It was getting late, and the new apartment complex on the outskirts of the residential area radiated light – at least, _most_ windows were brightly lit. One apartment was conspicuously dark however. Inside, a blonde boy sat peering down at his desk. His only source of light – a strong overhead lamp – shone down at the files strewn about. Groaning to himself, the blonde held up a glass of sake and swished it gently before taking a sip.

There were people on his mind, some of them were buzzing in the back of his head. Like Sabakuu no Gaara and Hinata Hyuuga. Both of which were problems he would have to deal with later. They were not his main worry. The three Genin he had been tasked to eliminate were.

Zaku Abumi, Kin Tsuchi and Dosu Kinata. The only team from Oto, and he would have to 'remove', all of them. Naruto took another sip from the glass, it was a weak distillation. Not that he had expected very strong stuff from the minibar.

The order was to remove them from the exam, permanently. To that end, killing them had been strongly advised. Yet, for public reasons, the killing could not be overt or gruesome. Accidents were far more preferable, as Naruto would soon be revealed to be a Konoha Shinobi, and this task could potentially tarnish Konoha's reputation if handled poorly.

It was this new . . . obstacle . . . that was being picked apart in his mind.

A click emanated from farther back in the apartment, Naruto looked up in alert. Someone was coming inside.

"Brat, you here?" The voice came from the hallway.

Naruto relaxed a bit at the voice, but he approached it warily nonetheless.

"Why do you keep it so dark in here?" The voice of his teacher asked. The front door clicked close.

Naruto flicked on a light switch in the living room and looked at Jiraiya's illuminated figure standing in the hallway.

"You know I like it dark." Naruto responded, and lowered the glass of sake. He had been planning to throw it if someone _other_ than Jiraiya had been standing in his hallway just then.

Jiraiya eyed the glass incredulously. "Were you planning to . . . throw sake at me?"

"Yes, followed by a fire technique to set you on fire." Naruto told him with a guilty smile. Fire had never been his forte, but setting a person doused in alcohol on fire was easily within his limits.

Jiraiya looked disturbed. "How could you even consider doing that?"

"What?" Naruto blinked, not comprehending.

"Wasting perfectly fine sake like that, you are no apprentice of mine." The toad sage looked at him contritely.

Naruto deadpanned. He gestured to the kitchen. "There's more in the minibar."

Jiraiya was inside his kitchen before he could snap his fingers, rummaging through the minibar. Naruto heard him squeal decidedly ladylike when he found a brand of rice wine he liked.

His renowned godfather came back into the living room chugging down a bottle.

Naruto stared at him, took a sip from his own glass, and continued staring. The man lowered the bottle and let out a loud sigh of satisfaction.

"Not too shabby!" He said and glanced down at the bottle appreciatively. The toad sage looked back up at Naruto.

"What? Don't look at me like that." The man told him and moved to take a seat in the couch.

"Sensei." Naruto began his sentence with that word, to make him realize he was serious. "When did you first begin to drink?"

As far as Naruto knew, the man had always been a sucker for the bottle. He might not be an alcoholic, but he wasn't far from it either. The man had an addiction, but Naruto had never truly raised that issue with him. Whenever he tried to talk about serious subjects like that, Jiraiya would always brush them off.

It was a shame, because Naruto wanted to help the man get his act together. His godfather always had time for him, Jiraiya had taught him so much of what he knew today and the man always helped Naruto with his problems. Even if it was just some complication about his latest Fuuinjutsu design.

But when it came to his own problems, his godfather clamped up. The man didn't want help from anyone. He was the type who preferred to suffer in solitude.

"Well, I was a lot older than you when I started." Jiraiya laughed at his own cleverness.

Naruto swished his own glass around and gave it a look, he would easily admit it tasted foul. "I'm just testing it out." He told Jiraiya. He kept the annoyance he felt from showing, as usual his godfather had avoided his question.

"I'll be the last person judging you for having a drink, Naruto." Jiraiya was surprisingly sober all of a sudden. He put down the bottle on the table and stretched in the couch. Naruto circled the table and sat down in the chair opposite Jiraiya, he decided not to push the issue anymore tonight. He could tell Jiraiya had something pressing to talk about.

"So, did you come just to raid my liquor or is there another reason for the sudden night-time visit?" Naruto asked him.

"This is hardly liquor, but yes. I come bringing advice." Jiraiya said in mock seriousness.

"Oohh, this ought to be good." Naruto emptied his glass in one swig and leaned back into his chair.

"Maybe not so much advice . . . more of a warning."

"The suspense is killing me." Naruto lamented sarcastically.

"Did I ever tell you about my teammate?" The question caught Naruto off guard.

"No . . . neither of them. You hate talking about them." Naruto replied. _Like a great deal of many other things._

"Ah, I suppose that's right, but for very _different_ reasons, mind you." Jiraiya reached for the bottle again. He took a small sip from it.

"Even back in my Genin days, Orochimaru was a prick. Always very selfish, and because of that he could be an ass. Let me be clear on this though, he was never a mean-spirited person. He wasn't a cruel man back then, and he very rarely got angry. Even so, because very little mattered to him beyond his own goals he was always hard to deal with as a teammate."

"That last line . . . it sounds a little bit like someone I know actually." Naruto frowned at some of the similarities between Sasuke and Orochimaru in his youth.

"I would keep an eye on that person if I were you." Jiraiya told him seriously, before taking a swig from the bottle. "In any case, I'm not here to unwrap my past with Orochimaru."

"But why is it such a touchy subject for you to begin with?" Jiraiya gave him a look that told him he was treading on thin ice.

Naruto began to amend himself quickly. "I mean, you said it yourself, he was a prick, hard to work with and generally unpleasant. I don't understand, if you disliked him-"

"Disliked him?" Jiraiya interrupted. "Orochimaru was like a brother to me, I loved him like a sibling."

Naruto gaped slightly and stared unabashedly at his godfather.

"Oh." He let out after a while, too gob smacked to formulate a proper reply.

"Yeah, well, that was a long time ago, he's beyond saving now." Jiraiya looked down in his lap, his mind going back.

"Last time I fought him, I had to go into sage mode." Jiraiya let out a sigh and shook his head. "That's when I knew there was no helping him anymore. The feel of his chakra . . . His presence was sickening. He's done unspeakable things to chase his ambition, it's warped him into something monstrous. I doubt there is any humanity left in him anymore."

"That . . . must have been terrible. I'm sorry." Naruto felt humbled. He felt his stomach churn uncomfortably, he was truly sorry for his godfather.

Jiraiya shifted himself on the coach. "Don't be, this is why I came today. In a perfect world I would get to kill the man myself, it would have been preferable. We live in no such world however, you might have to fight him someday."

Naruto frowned at his teacher. "Why?"

"Well, I think there's a high chance he will hate you on principle once he learns you exist, simply because he hated your father."

Naruto looked quizzically at Jiraiya. "What now?"

Jiraiya shrugged and gave a short elaboration. "Orochimaru and Minato were candidates for the position as the Yondaime Hokage, but we know who Sarutobi picked. Needless to say, Orochimaru hated Minato for it."

"I never knew that." Naruto muttered quietly. He knew there was a lot Jiraiya had never told him about. The man hated to talk about the past – Naruto suspected this had a lot to do with his drinking habits – which was why these revelations shook him so much.

Jiraiya waved a hand at him, as if to brush away the heavy atmosphere in the room. "That doesn't matter now kid. Keep your head in the game, you need to be ready if Orochimaru ever crosses path with you."

"Well, you knew him best, if someone could help me prepare, it would be you." Naruto tried not to dwell on the fact that he might have to fight one of the world's most famous Nukenin in the future. There was also a chance Orochimaru was in Konoha right now, hidden somewhere in plain sight and planning the destruction of the leaf.

Jiraiya gave a small satisfied smile. "Exactly, I know how he fights. I'll need to show you his tricks one day, but for now, how are your examination going?"

Naruto let out a breath and shook his head before answering. "I'm confident I'm the top performer so far. I managed to cheat and get some good results on the theory today."

"How did you cheat?" Jiraiya wondered.

"Kage Bunshin, I had some look for the test spot. They found the cabin and the chimney was the perfect hiding spot, I got to hear all the questions in advance and a plethora of different answers." Naruto explained. After that it had been easy, upon hearing Naruto's voice speaking inside the small cottage, the clone had left the cabin and dispersed itself from a safe distance.

"I got an assignment from Ibiki later on." He added after a while, almost as an afterthought.

Jiraiya looked at him with interest, he lifted an eyebrow to urge him on.

"I'm pretty sure I'm not allowed to discuss it with anyone, even you." Naruto smiled at his godfather.

"Like we give a fuck about that." Jiraiya murmured into his bottle, Naruto grinned at the man. He agreed wholeheartedly.

"I have to eliminate the Otogakure team. Tomorrow."

Jiraiya slowly put down the bottle and became introspective.

"What is it?" Naruto wanted to know.

"That's going to piss him off. Besides, Orochimaru could be masquerading as one of those Genin . . . That settles it. Follow me." All of a sudden Jiraiya was up and about.

". . . You think Orochimaru could be posing as a Genin from his own Hidden village? Doesn't that seem too simple to you?" Naruto frowned at the man. When Jiraiya merely grunted and walked into the hallway, Naruto followed him in bewilderment.

The toad sage Turned to look at Naruto, he already had a hand on the door handle.  
"For once, don't pester me with a million questions. We're going out to a training ground. I've a lot of stuff to show you and not a lot of time to do it on."

Naruto caught himself opening his mouth, but he closed it reluctantly and grabbed a set of sandals.

This had better be good.

 **xXx**

Our blonde Shinobi in training came back to his apartment three hours later. He shuffled inside and dragged himself into the bedroom, where he undressed and promptly feel asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

Naruto estimated he began dreaming very quickly, but he had no clue when he crossed over the dream and entered the Eight Trigram Seal. In one moment he was dreaming up vague figures and demolishing them, in the next he was in the seal standing in front of the Kyuubi.

He had no memory of anything in-between.

 **"How the hell did you get in here?"** The Kyuubi wrung his prone body around to get a look at him.

"I have no clue." Naruto murmured confusedly. "I went to bed exhausted . . . I think I was dreaming up until now."

 **"Huh . . . your mother used to end up here when she had nightmares."** The Kyuubi smiled sadistically. **"She would arrive out of nowhere, all teary eyed and afraid. Of course, she would take one look at me and turn white as a sheet before popping out again. I guess the nightmare was preferable."**

Naruto ignored the flash of anger he felt at the jab against his mother.

"I don't think my mother feared you as much as you think she did." The young Uzumaki felt this was both the right thing to say, and the truth.

 **"I might have exaggerated a bit."** The fox admitted without seeming to care much.

"I think you were." Naruto told him straight. "We're not enemies Kyuubi, there's no need to act like we are."

The Kyuubi rose up on all four and stared down at him with slitted eyes. **"Do not presume too much, Uzumaki ravel. We may not be enemies, but we're certainly not allies."**

Naruto kept silent for a short moment. While irritating, having his mother's clan referred to as ravel didn't inspire much anger. He'd never known any of them, and they were gone. He kept his cool with ease this time.

"Maybe not, but I'd still like to learn your name, I refuse to merely call you Kyuubi all the time."

The large fox promptly lost its menacing aura and actually blinked in surprise.

 **"What makes you think I have a name?"**

Naruto snorted at the question. "Please, everyone has a name. What about the other tailed beasts out there? Don't you have names you call each other?"

 **"We do, but that is not yours to know."** The Kyuubi told him.

"If you don't give me your name I will make one up for you right now." Naruto told him flatly.

 **". . ."**

". . . You know, I like the name Spot."

 **". . . Fine. You may call me Kurama."** This was let out in a defeated manner.

"Kurama."Naruto tasted the word. _Huh, strange. That's actually a nice name, did not expect that._

 **"Now, would you leave? You interrupted a rather nice dream."**

"Oh yeah, I bet your dreams are the best, were you running around trampling flowers, or people?" Naruto asked mockingly. As it turned out, that was entirely the wrong thing to say.

 **"Quiet!"** A tangible wave of red devilish chakra emitted from Kurama as he shouted the one word. It roiled over the ground and reached Naruto before he had any time to react at all. The chakra didn't do anything to him physically, but it battered at his mind like a sledgehammer. It felt like he was standing in an ocean of red hot rage bubbling with malice and hatred.

Unprepared, the boy fell to his knees. His vision blurred into a red mist. Naruto, like everyone else, had of course been angry before. He'd been pissed off with his godfather's ridiculous habits on a dozen different occasions. Even so, he had only been livid with rage once. He'd teared a door of its hinges on accident that day.

This was worse than that. Ten times worse. A hundred times worse.

The rage he was feeling was so overpowering he could barely think. All he desired was destruction, to lay waste to everything around him and burn the world down. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a small part of him wailed in protest, but it was drowned out.

Naruto rose to his feet, his hands jerking and spasming, his breath wheezing. Fright and terror moved up his spine, before that raw unadulterated rage overtook him again. He was going to kill that damn fox. Fuck him, he didn't need him. He would rip out his throat and dance in the blood shower. _Why though?_ A thought in him pooled up.

"I'll kill him. . **Crush**. . Break . . **Rip**."Naruto stumbled in the red chakra pooling around him. Another stab of fright hit him, he felt scared again. He didn't even know why, he just wanted to crush something to feel better.

 _No!_ Exerting all of his willpower, Naruto funneled his own chakra through his system and used it to purge his body free from that dark influence. It hurt like a bitch, the red substance peeled off of him like a second skin. Small burns and blisters ran up and down his arms, they were on his face to he surmised.

Most of the red gunk evaporated, but some of it slithered back to Kurama, who stood watching him impassively.

"What the hell is wrong with you? What was that?" Naruto asked in outrage, but his voice was coarse and weak.

 **"That was my power . . . I lost control for a moment"** Kurama seemed to regret himself, any trace of anger completely gone in him. **"I'm surprised you were able to throw it off like you did, very few could have done something like that."**

"Well, keep your damn power to yourself from now on, like I've said before, I don't need it!" Naruto told him angrily.

 **"You say that, even after having felt its potency first hand?"** Kurama seemed oddly puzzled.

"Yes! That . . . Power, is not mine. I won't use it." Naruto stared back at the fox.

 **"Why?** There was actual curiosity in his voice.

"Because what you have is not true power. However strong it may be, it's still cemented in hatred. There's so much rage in you . . . But, why are you so scared?" Naruto added that last bit questioningly.

 **"What now?"** Kurama growled at him.

"That's the only other thing I felt from your chakra other than pure rage; fear. You're afraid of something, aren't you? That's what drives your hatred, right? I mean, you hold so much fear in your heart; it's almost as if you're afraid to be controlled."

At the time, Naruto was unaware of how close to home this hit Kurama.

 **"You dare . . ."** The fox stood eerily still and eyed Naruto with real menace. Kurama always looked at the blonde boy like a cat would a mouse. Not a worthy meal, but prey nonetheless. Right now, however, the fox looked fierce and deadly and capable of all the things he'd done in the stories out there.

Feeling uncertain, Naruto opened his mouth to apologize. He would have to backtrack and start over, he had pushed too hard and too soon.

 **"If you say so much as another word about me I will tear you to shreds and oust you from this place. I will. But not before grinding your bones to dust, not before I have melted your essence down into goo. Not another word."**

Naruto might have had a stubborn streak a mile wide, but he was not a complete fool. He gave a slow nod.

 **xXx**

Despite the very late night and a sudden detour from dreamland and into The Eight Trigram seal, Naruto woke feeling passably refreshed – surprisingly enough. After a quick inspection in front of the bathroom mirrors he found no burns or irritated skin whatsoever, which was interesting. It would be prudent to test that further someday. Idly, Naruto caught himself wondering what would happen to him if he was somehow killed inside the seal.

 _ **Odds are you die on the outside as well.**_ Kurama's voice rumbled in the back of his head. Naruto – who had been standing on one leg pulling a sock up his foot – jolted upright and almost fell on the slippery tiles.

 _Warn me next time damn it!_

 _ **Warning you in your own mind would no doubt still give you a scare.**_ Naruto was pretty sure the fox was mocking him.

 _A tiny prod would suffice._ Naruto argued as he strapped himself up.

 _ **I might try that.**_

The trip to the Arena was wet, but the grey combat jacket repelled most of the rain. Despite the foggy weather Naruto used the Shunshin to quickly cover the distance to the Arena. He had made the same trip with the Shunshin twice before, and some bad visibility was not going to stop him today.

Naruto arrived at the center island of the Arena to see scores of Genin crowding around the large blackboard, he felt some small amount of apprehension rise in him. What if his performance yesterday had not been as good as he first thought? How much would it hurt him if he scored lower?

He made his way through the crowd. Rain pattered down on the blackboard, but the chalk didn't wash away or smear. Naruto had already guessed the administrators must have used something in order to make the chalk stick, otherwise any Genin could wipe out names left and right. This confirmed it.

A surprise was the actual size of the list. Of the two-hundred names from the first day, Naruto estimated a bit more than a quarter of them remained, but less than half. Seventy names perhaps. The first phase would be over either today or tomorrow, Naruto was sure of it.

Closer up, he was able to distinguish the letters and names at the top of the list.

 _Naruto - 50 points_

 _Nii Yugito - 49 points_

 _Hikaru - 48,5 points_

 _Haruno Sakura - 47 points_

 _Kurotsuchi - 46 points_

 _Temari - 45,5 points_

 _Fumihiro - 44 points_

 _Hyuuga Hinata - 43,5 points_

 _Sasuke Uchia - 42 points_

 _Tenten - 42 points_

 _Kin Tsuchi - 41,5 points_

Naruto struggled to keep his smile to himself.

Something pressed at his consciousness, he had no way to describe it to anyone lacking the connection he and the fox had, but it felt as if Kurama had done the equivalent of mentally knocking on his door. Naruto opened up to the connection.

 _ **So, fifty points was the best possible score?**_ Kurama's deep voice resonated through his mind.

 _Seems like it, yes._ Then he frowned, the fact that Kurama had known to ask that question confirmed a suspicion.

 _When were you going to tell me you can actually see through my eyes?_

 _ **I was checking how long it would take you to figure it out.**_ Was the amused reply.

 _Of course you were._ Naruto answered tonelessly and turned away from the blackboard. He moved up closer to the podium so he could hear Ibiki better. He found the Konoha rookies there, but he didn't get to say so much as 'hi' before Ibiki began talking.

"Welcome back, Genin! Today we're taking off the training wheels!" The Konoha proctor gestured to the side of the podium, and two men in flak jackets began to hand out objects to the crowd.

"Each of you will be given a badge. Keep it safe, it's important." Ibiki made a slight pause for emphasis. Naruto watched as the rookies in front of him mutely received a badge each. Each badge was in the shape of the universal fire symbol you could find in every Jutsu scroll from Konoha to Kiri.

Naruto took his silently when he was offered one. The metal felt heavy in his hand, the symbol itself had been made with a surprisingly good eye for detail - considering it was just a heavy prop.

"This test will last throughout most of the day, only those of you with three badges when time runs out gets to advance further. I'm sure you can figure out what this implies . . ."

A wave of restlessness shot through the crowd, whispers bubbled up immediately.

"I am not going to impose many limits on you today, but I have one. This island will remain a peace zone, no fighting will be allowed here. Once you have your badges, return here with all three. Other than that, you can do whatever you want. Use whatever weapons you like, take whatever alliance you can find, or try your luck as a lone wolf, either way, by tonight you will have to turn in three badges here with me in order to succeed. Good luck, we will begin now."

True to his word, the process of scattering every Genin around the arena began immediately. After every five minutes a batch of eight Genin were sent off the island in different directions. The field slowly emptied as the minutes stretched. Naruto took special note of the direction each Oto Genin wandered off into.

He hoped they would regroup somewhere out there. Not because it would make his job easier, but because it would look barbaric if he had to track down each of them and eliminate them in turn and order. Definitely not the image Konoha wanted, and while no one knew he was on team Konoha right now, that was going to change soon.

The next batch of Genin sent him and the rookies off into different directions. They had agreed to regroup somewhere between the forest zone and the desert zone, and they had even made it clear Naruto could come. He had declined graciously with a sarcastic bow and a small smile, saying he was flattered but heading somewhere else.

Which was nothing but the truth.

They had accepted that with no fuss, Shikimaru had looked relieved, and Hinata downright suspicious. He didn't blame either of them as they were right to be wary. He had been tasked to kill people after all.

 **xXx**

 _~ Three hours later – Forest zone ~_

Naruto watched the water running through his fingers turn dark. After a short moment had passed, he rose and stepped away from the stream. His hands were no longer smeared with blood. He would have shaken them dry, but the rain was steadily getting worse. Nothing was dry today.

Naruto peered around the small creek they were in. His . . . subordinate? prisoner? No, better to just use her name. Kin Tsuchi was lounging on a large oval rock right by the brook, dipping her fingers in the small current. Her long dark hair was splayed out against the rock. She didn't seem to mind the downpour at all.

The Otogakure kunoichi felt his gaze, and stared back at him with her one healthy eye. The other was so badly bruised it had closed up completely. Her left leg was useless, her right arm was useless. Really, she was a cripple at the moment, she had to be carried to get anywhere.

Which he intended to continue doing for a little while more.

The last few hours had been a battle between bad luck and good luck, Naruto was not sure which of the two was on top at the moment. It was a close thing. At the very start of the day, Naruto had kept a vain hope to follow in the tracks of the Oto Genin, that had quickly proved too difficult. There were just too many overlapping tracks heading in the same direction.

He had tried anyway.

Following one of these tracks, he had been ambushed by a pair of Genin hiding not too far into the desert zone. Not a bad ploy. Clever to get the drop on some of the lone Genin leaving the island. Unfortunately, they ambushed the wrong person. Naruto had left them on the shrubby ground, both sporting bruises and relieved of their badges.

Giving up the notion of tracking his targets, Naruto had sat down to draw a crude map of the arena in the dirt of the desert zone. From the center island he drew three lines, each one representing his targets. He was glad he had memorized their departure points now. If they were planning to team up again, it seemed natural that they would pick a point close to all three. Naruto laid down a few lines who went straight as a ruler, his Fuuinjutsu practice demanded exquisite brush control, and he was nearly as good with a pencil. Naruto drew a circle where all the lines intersected, _this is where they want to meet up . . . if they're smart that is._

Naruto peered down at the map in uncertainty. It was a thin lead, he knew that, but he had nothing else to go on. He'd rather not comb through each and every nook of the arena in search of them.

On his search through the forest zone, Naruto once again stumbled into trouble. Quite literarily this time, as he had nearly killed himself when he walked into a small section of the forest smattered with an elaborate system of trip wires, spring traps and explosive tags. He had been inattentive and had foolishly walked on, a tiny 'click' had been his only warning.

The first trap had merely shoved him into the real danger. A complete web of traps all with the goal of maiming and mutilating a person as much as possible.

Raw, unfiltered reflexes saved his life. Naruto rolled, coiled into jumps and tumbled away with such an uncanny coordination he would have turned any gymnast green with jealousy. He came through the thicket pumping with adrenaline and perfectly unharmed.

 _Killed by a handful of traps, so goes the last Uzumaki._ His pride hurt just thinking about it. He could hear Kurama roaring with laughter in the back of his head. When the trap makers came to investigate the explosions, he discovered there were four of them. Spurred on by their superior numbers, they had tried to take him down.

To give you the short end of it, Naruto left the thicket with four more badges.

When he reached the spot he had marked out for himself earlier, Naruto slowed down his pace and adapted a sneakier approach. He paused for a breath when he heard a quiet wailing up ahead. Someone was hurt, going by the pained moans. Naruto took to the trees and swiftly covered ground.

It was a girl, and although it could have been a trap, Naruto merely jumped off a branch and landed in front of the prone form.

She looked slightly older than him. Which said more than you might think, as Naruto was usually mistaken for a fourteen-year-old most of the time. That said, he had the dark-haired girl pegged as a fifteen-year-old. At a glance, Naruto could spot her worst injuries.

Her right arm was broken, and several injuries stood out on her face, but going by her gentle movements she was just as beat up beneath her clothes. Someone had cut the tendon that stretched over the Achilles in her left leg. That last bit had him frowning. Only cruel people did that sort of thing and left without leaving so much as a bandage.

Naruto bent down and rolled out a storage seal, he activated it and considered the items that popped out. He had never thought he would have found much use for the standard issue field supplies during the exam, but he was glad he'd brought it along anyways.

Naruto took a small container of soldier pills and laid it beside the painkillers, he grabbed a roll of adhesive bandage and a small flask of disinfectant. He gave the young woman a small pat on the shoulder and asked her if she could roll over a bit.

Something in his voice must have convinced her he was trying to help, because she did as he asked without question. She wheezed painfully at each motion. Naruto palmed her a handful of pills and set the water bottle in front of her.

"They're painkillers, swallow all of them." He told her and scooted over to work on her leg. Naruto cut away the cloth and poured the disinfectant over the wound just as she swallowed the pills. She didn't cry out, but there was sharp whizz of indrawn air.

"Who did this to you?" Naruto asked as he rolled bandages around her shin.

"M-my teammate." She sounded wretched.

Naruto nodded and continued working on the leg.

"T-thank you for helping me."

"Don't mention it. Your teammates were cruel if they did this. Let me guess, they wanted your badge, and you didn't cooperate?"

She gave him a weak nod, and that's when Naruto noticed a crucial detail. The symbol on her forehead protector was a note, representing sound. Realization set in sharply for him, she was Kin Tsuchi from Otogakure. He would have recognized her sooner, but her face was very different from the picture in her file. She sported a cut lip, two grape-sized bruises, and a partially closed eye that had trouble focusing.

He was patching up the target he had been tasked to kill.

Apart from a slight pause in his ministrations, Naruto continued as if nothing happened. He could hear a gleeful laughter faintly in the back of his head. Kurama was practically roaring with amusement.

"Do you know where your team were headed?" Naruto tried not to sound _too_ eager to know this.

The girl, or Kin rather, didn't answer straight away. "They went up the hillside." She relented and pointed out the direction.

 _That's toward the mountain zone . . ._ Hardly even thinking about it, Naruto made a familiar hand sign and watched as two clones popped up around him. Wordlessly, both left at a run. Kin stared after the clones with a single dark eye.

"We ought to do something about that arm too." Naruto told her after having patched up her foot.

"Please, I can just lie here and wait, a Chunin is bound to find me soon. You've . . . You've done enough."

Naruto weighed his options. On one hand, he'd been assigned to eliminate her. To make sure beyond all doubt she would not become a problem later on, whether as a pawn of Orochimaru in the invasion, or as a spy in the exam. His superiors wanted her dead for these reasons.

On the other hand, the girl was effectively a cripple, she couldn't walk. She was no threat and wouldn't be one for a few weeks with those injuries, her time in the exam would be over after today. Simply killing her for things she may or may not do in the future didn't sit well with Naruto, not one bit. Then there were her teammates, they had beat her up and left her to wallow in misery.

Not a move that would inspire much loyalty in a girl. With the right approach . . . Maybe.

"Listen. You can barely crawl at the moment. I can't leave you like this. What if someone like Sabakuu no Gaara stumbles over you before any of the Chunin find you? He'd smile whilst squeezing the blood out of you like an overripe fruit."

Surprisingly, this didn't inspire much fear in the Oto girl.

"If you're not prepared to leave a few injured people in your wake you really shouldn't have taken this exam."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at her. "I already have left injured people behind me, and each and every one of them should be up and about by now, searching for a way to make a comeback. You on the other hand, can barely crawl, much less walk."

"Sooo . . use an explosion tag and make some noise, it should draw some of the Chunin towards me. I have some tags in my pocket." Her voice was less confident this time.

Naruto shook his head slowly. "That's a bad idea for the same reason, if someone dangerous is nearby, explosions would be like a beacon to them." _Besides, I can't leave you with a Chunin._

"Then what do you want me to do?" She almost slurred at the last words. That would be the painkillers kicking in, she had taken them on an empty stomach apparently. There was a substantial chance she might pass out.

"Nothing. I'm going to carry you back to the center island, you will be safe there." He told her plainly.

She looked at him as if he had sprouted a second head.

"Wha? Wait, no, that can't work . . . how could you possibly . . . what if we run into someone?"

"That won't be a problem." He assured her.

She hesitated with her next words. "You won't have enough time left to get your badges . . ."

Naruto held out a hand and watched her reaction as he unsealed the badges he had taken earlier today. They clinked to the grass. Including his own, he had seven. Over twice the amount a person needed to pass. Her expression was priceless.

"Like I said . . ." Naruto drawled, unable to resist doing some showmanship. "That won't be a problem."

 **xXx**

 _~ Back to the present ~_

Naruto and Kin held each other's gaze for a while, she was the one who broke eye-contact. With a small sigh, the young Uzumaki stepped in front of her and sought her attention. He'd decided that for once, maybe a direct and completely honest approach might be the best one.

"Okay, here's the situation right now." Naruto told her when she wouldn't look at him. "We're just a couple minutes away from the no-fight zone. I'm inclined to take you there, but this is more complicated than you realize."

"How so?" She asked, her healthy eye tightened with suspicion.

"Konoha knows about your invasion, they know Orochimaru is here, they know he controls Otogakure, and they know your team work for him. The Sandaime is aware of all of this." Naruto stated this in an impassioned manner.

She stared at him like a gob smacked fish on land.

"My assignment for the day, was to kill you, Kin Tsuchi. You and your teammates, which I'm currently tracking down as we speak."

Now it looked like someone had ruthlessly stepped on said fish. Her eyes bulged in shock, had she been the type of girl to cower and shiver in fear, she would have done it by now. She didn't do that though.

"So why am I still alive?" She nearly bit off each word.

"Because I found the task unnecessary and distasteful." He told her with a tiny smile. "That does not mean you will live through the day. It depends on you."

"What do you want me to do?" She asked in an almost mechanical manner. Her eyes were glassy and uncaring. There was a sort of detached calmness in her he found unnerving. It was as if she'd been in situations like these many times before, and this was just the most recent event in which she was being coerced into something.

"The way I see it, you are far more valuable to Konoha alive." Naruto made a casual gesture with his palms turned up. "So, convert."

She snorted at him. "You certainly don't beat around the bush, at least tempt me with promises of power first."

"You won't need power, you will be with Konoha, and we always win." Naruto said this like it was an irrefutable fact. "We can protect you, but I doubt Orochimaru will care or even notice when you disappear from him."

". . . There's a ring of truth to that last bit." She muttered. "So, what would converting entail? Would I be locked up for years before you trusted me?"

Naruto gave this some honest thought.

"For a time, yes, but that would also depend on you. There are ways you could show us your loyalty, but you would be watched in the beginning, at the very least."

Kin nodded mutely, she had expected as much.

"In this case however, I'm willing to speak on your behalf. I have the Hokage's ear, and he listens to me. I can convince him to give you citizenship, a real life here."

"Just like that?" She was doubting him.

"Yes, just like that, once the exams are over of course." _Once the invasion has been fought off._ Was the underlined context.

She turned her head to look at him. "And if I refuse?"

"I'll kill you." Naruto lied smoothly and met her eyes.

He would knock her unconscious and hide her. Later, he would come back for her and take her to Jiraiya. He could probably have her smuggled halfway to Kumo within half a week.

She didn't consider the option for long. "Fine, I accept."

"Good. Beats being dead, right?" He smiled. She snorted at him.

"So . . ." He gave a slight cough and tried to turn his voice a bit more chipper. "Ready to play bridesmaid again?"

"Technically, it's not the bridesmaid you lift like that, but the bride." She corrected him.

"God, you're lame." He told her as he moved to pick her up. He was careful not to touch the crude makeshift sling he'd made for her broken arm. Thankfully, they traversed through the last of the forest region and across the river without running into anyone.

On the other side, Kin revealed something disturbing.

"They are looking for the Uchiha."

"What?" Naruto looked down at her, puzzled. _Sasuke?_

"The Sharingan boy. My team . . . My _old_ teammates are going to kill him."

"But why?" He asked, not understanding it.

She shrugged. "Orochimaru-sama wants him dead, and you don't question that."

 _That makes no sense though . . . There must be a reason._

"Thank you for mentioning it . . . I'll make sure Ibiki knows you're being cooperative."

When he saw the first crooked statues appear, he knew they were almost back in the clearing. It didn't take long before a Chunin materialized before them.

"Are her wounds critical?" He asked him sharply.

Naruto tried to brush past him. "No, but she can't walk. Is Ibiki here somewhere? Any medic-nin?"

The Chunin stepped in front of him, a flat hand held up. "I will have her seen to, but I'm afraid you cannot accompany her further unless you want to retire from the exam."

That stopped Naruto, he still had things to do. But leaving Kin alive with Ibiki might be a very bad move. He could tell she was starting to stress, her body had become unnaturally stiff all of a sudden.

"Fine." Naruto acquiesced, and jostled Kin into the larger man's arms. She let out an involuntary groan of pain at the exchange. Before the man took off with her, Naruto grabbed her headband, twirled it over in his hand and roughly scraped his kunai over the symbol. It was the most open sign of defection a person could wear.

Naruto shoved the headband into her lap and closed her hand around it. The Chunin frowned at the action, but he remained silent.

Kin blinked with her one healthy eye.

"You're not with Oto anymore. Keep that headband close and make sure to show it to Ibiki. He won't touch you." Naruto tried to be reassuring.

"Thank you." she murmured thickly.

"Last advice, don't answer any questions, and if they take you away, tell them you will only talk to Naruto." He watched as the Chunin stepped back and turned away from him. Kin gave him a final look that had a lasting impact on him.

Now, it may have been the painkillers, or maybe her situation in Oto had been even worse than he had already assumed. But as she was carried away, Naruto saw a flash of warm gratitude stretch over hear injured face. A lonely tear slid down her cheek and was caught in an upturned lip.

Then she and the Chunin disappeared behind a skewed pillar.

If you want a reason for why Naruto eventually becomes the hero of this story, you need look no further.

 **xXx**

 _~ Sasuke - Mountain zone ~_

With blood stained fingers, Sasuke picked at the clothes of the prone figure in front of him. He only had a single badge, which brought his own tally up to exactly that. One badge. He'd lost his own badge earlier to a trio from Amegakure. He was rather ashamed of that performance, had they been less noble they would have killed him.

Either way, he was back to square one now. He needed two more badges in order to pass onto the next stage.

Not for the first time, Sasuke wondered if it had been completely wise to decline everyone's invitations to team up earlier. The competition today was proving itself to be a real challenge, and the handicap of doing it solo was starting to get to him.

The body beside him groaned. It was time to leave, before he recovered. Sasuke jumped onto one of the many, large rocks that protruded out of the landscape in the mountain zone. The heavy rainfall made things more slippery and difficult than it had to be, but the Uchiha skipped from rock to rock, covering ground at an even pace.

He spotted the two figures through the rain just as they spotted him.

The first figure wore a threadbare poncho with long sleeves, and a scarf with snakelike patterns running over it. His head was completely covered in bandages for some reason, except for his left eye. He had a hunched back, and it made him look smaller than his teammate, although he was probably the same height.

The other figure had the same snake scarf, but the similarities ended there. He had dark hair slicked with rain, and he wore a beige shirt with some black stripes and kanji written on it. Both were coming down the mountainside, heading directly towards him.

"Dosu, you think that's him?" The guy on the left said, his voice loud enough to carry through the din of water pelting down.

The guy with the inclined back shrugged and talked through his bandages. "Makes no difference Zaku, result's gonna be the same either way."

Sasuke didn't care to hear anymore. He felt he already had the situation pegged down. This was the sort of fight where it was either kill or be killed. The Uchiha channeled chakra to his feet and ran up a steep rock jutting out of the earth.

His opponents reacted immediately. Zaku aimed both arms at him and shot a nearly intangible wave of energy at him, the trajectory behind the shot was completely clear of rain. Sasuke kicked off the rock and dodged the attack completely, he flicked a handful of shuriken at the two in mid-air. _I've got to get them separated._

Sasuke stumbled slightly on slick ground after the high jump, but quickly caught his balance and darted in-between the rock formations. He was about to cut a corner when a high-pitched sound on the other side of the rock gave him a tiny warning. An instant later, the large and solid stone beside him literarily exploded.

The only reason he survived was the Sharingan. His Doujutsu activated of its own accord and he was able to track the blast trajectory of the flying rocks. The largest slabs he managed to dive out of the way off, but the smaller splinters and pebbles hailed across his body.

Not paying the pain any attention, Sasuke pushed off the ground and scrambled to his feet. He heard a muffled ' _thud'_ from behind and snapped his head around. The one called Zaku had jumped down amidst the wet rubble, he smiled imperiously at Sasuke.

"Any last words?" Dozu, the hunchbacked Genin wrapped in bandages, asked him calmly from an outcropping above him. Sasuke experienced a feeling of unease spring up his spine. So, they intended to kill him then.

"I'm not dying here, and if you come at me with the intent to kill, I won't hesitate in giving you the same treatment."

While Zaku laughed openly at him, Dozu merely snorted in contempt. He shrugged, saying: "Fair enough."

He then stepped over the edge he was standing on and kicked off the side off the rock. Sasuke's Sharingan telegraphed the attack, and he sidestepped with good margin. Or so he thought, but a familiar high-pitched sound was coming from Dozu. His long-sleeved poncho was torn from his right arm as he punched after the Uchiha. Sasuke _did_ see the peculiar gauntlet stretching up his forearm, but it was too late by then.

The vertigo hit him first, and Sasuke tumbled to the ground like a doll who had just had its strings snipped off. The pain came just as he hit the ground, his head felt incredibly heavy and numb. The nausea kicked in last, but with a vengeance. Sasuke only barely managed to stop himself from dry-heaving.

"W-what the hell?" He groused from the ground.

"Don't try to get to up, it makes the nausea worse." Dozu warned him.

Sasuke fumbled on the wet ground like a newborn babe attempting to get up on his feet, his balance was completely shot. A growing feeling of dread rose in him and fought for dominance with his nausea. Neither managed to overcome the other.

"Geez, well, this was thoroughly disappointing, I didn't get to do anything." Zaku stepped up next to Dozu to study Sasuke.

"I use my gauntlet to attack with sound, Uchiha. And although you dodged perfectly, you were still close enough to have your inner ear shut down." Dozu took out a kunai with the ease of a butcher moving to dismember a pig.

Sasuke blinked away water and eyed the knife with trepidation, his constant worming made no difference. He felt completely helpless. Just like that time with Gaara. He resolved himself then. If he was going to get killed he might as well make it difficult. A close-up fireball technique ought to do it.

Dozu swivelled his only eye at him, and Sasuke, who had some experience from Kakashi and his single eye, knew the boy was smiling at him just then.

"Lie still and I won't make it painful, that's the least I can do, I'm ending a bloodline after all." Dozu kneeled down and moved to slit his throat. Sasuke clasped his hands together and molded the chakra. If his bloodline stopped here, then it was going to be by _his_ hand.

Out of nowhere, a kunai buried itself into the head of Dozu. He looked surpised for half a moment, his eye wide and confused. Then he dropped the kunai and fell over Sasuke, unmistakably dead.

Sasuke canceled his technique and looked on in bewilderment.

Zaku let out a cry of panic at the sight of his dead comrade, but it was cut short when another kunai came out of nowhere and whizzed into his thigh. He stumbled and fell over too, clutching his leg. It looked like he was having cramps.

Sasuke had only ever seen such precise and powerful throws come from Itachi. Whoever had done this to the Oto Genin had incredible talent. Sasuke peered through the rain and at the looming stones around them, the attacker could be anywhere.

But the next time Sasuke glanced back at Zaku, there was someone standing above him. He had long, dark hair, wet with rain. He stood a head taller than Sasuke perhaps, and he was speaking to Zaku. It was difficult to hear the words through the rain.

"-have a use for you yet."

". . . -lied to us!"

"Yes, you were faster than . . ." Sasuke pushed Dozu off of him and stretched his ears in order to listen, who was this?

"-besides, I'll let you live, be grateful."

"You bastard!" Zaku cried out in anger.

"Where is the girl?" The strange person asked.

" . . .-left her."

"What?" Even Sasuke heard the menace in that one word, and he understood he still had to get away somehow. Even though it was slow, he rose to a kneeling position and fought the urge to vomit.

Stuttering and suddenly terrified, Zaku tried to explain something. But the long-haired man cut him off.

"Leave! I'll deal with you later." The man's voice was cold.

Zaku crawled the first little stretch, but then he clambered up and hobbled off into the rain. For a moment, the man stood still, and it allowed Sasuke to carefully stilt himself back on his feet. His balance was still not even close to being fully back, but he was able to stand.

Eerily, the man turned his head unnaturally to look at him, how he could twist his neck like that was a mystery to Sasuke. A terrible smile graced across his pale lips as he began to approach Sasuke.

"Toot, toot. Really now Sasuke, you disappoint me." His voice was louder now, easily heard through the rumbling rain.

With very few limited options available, Sasuke decided to try and talk to the man.

"Who are you?" He called out, he tried his best to look unruffled.

The man laughed at him, it was not a laughter that inspired any feelings of joy.

"Someone you desperately need if you're to accomplish your goals." The man came to a stop in front of Sasuke, his smile was condescending.

"Unable to even put up much of a fight against those two . . . and coming from the last scion of the Uchiha clan. How weak, don't you agree?" He smiled with sharp teeth.

Sasuke didn't know what to say.

"I am here to help you with that." Sasuke did not believe that for a second.

"Why?" He asked through gritted teeth, his dizziness made things hard to follow.

"Because I have a vested interest in you, let's just leave it at that for now." He smiled that terrifying smile again and stepped closer.

"This might hurt a bit . . ."

Sasuke tried to step away, but after two steps he lost his balance and fell into a grimy puddle. Sasuke stared in revulsion as the man's throat _extended_ towards him, his sharp teeth looked more like fangs now. He reminded Sasuke of a snake.

For the second time that day, someone intervened on his behalf.

A grey figure flickered into existence between him and the strange snake-man, the Shunshin made no sound or smoke. Eyes wide with recognition, Sasuke stared in disbelief as Naruto moved his sword arm up diagonally and made a large cut in the retreating neck of the snake-man.

Stumbling back and hissing in pain, the snake-man looked at them with hateful eyes. His neck shrunk back in on itself until he regained the appearance of an ordinary man again. The cut over his throat was somehow gone, but Sasuke could not comprehend how.

"You!" The man wheezed at Naruto, who frowned.

"Yes. Me. What about it?" He asked. It was the first time Sasuke had heard Naruto's voice become that serious. He joked and laughed about Gaara trying to kill him, but he was dead-serious now. That set the situation into perspective.

Ignoring his shifting vertigo once more, Sasuke slowly forced himself back on his feet. The process was a lot easier this time.

"Don't play games with me, I knew who you were on the first day, Uzumaki Naruto, Son of the Yondaime Hokage."

Sasuke hardly believed what he was hearing at this point, the situation was turning surreal.

"Fair enough, Orochimaru." Naruto returned back.

Despite the ridiculous claim, Sasuke could not help but realizing it was probably true. Who else could extend their neck and throat like a snake, but a snake summoner?

"Ku ku ku. Well done, Namikaze boy, you're as bright as your father ever were. I'll make sure to end you now, lest you become a problem in the future."

A flash of lightning lit up in the sky, a few seconds later there was a loud bang of thunder. The rain hailed down like never before.

". . . A problem in the future?" The question was clearly rhetorical, and Orochimaru frowned at him.

"Whatever you were about to do to Sasuke, I stopped it, you won't get another chance at it. I'm not some distant problem in the future, Orochimaru. I'm a big fucking problem right _now_."

Orochimaru looked at Naruto with pale green eyes. "What wonderful confidence." He marveled. "I hope it lasts . . ."

Then, Orochimaru, S-ranked Nukenin and wanted criminal, charged forward with the intent to kill.

 **A/N Sorry! Soorrry! The cliffhanger is cruel I know, I know. But, please, the next chapter will make up for it, promise!**

 **Anyways, leave a review if you like, I'll be seeing you on the next update.**

 **-The Epic pen**


	10. Collision

**A/N I would like to open this next update with an apology to all of you following the story, my last chapter ended with a big cliff-hanger. Re-reading the piece made me realize it did really break up the reading flow to end it there, but I've learnt my lesson now, I think.**

 **Some of you pointed out that Orochimaru** _ **toyed**_ **with four tails Naruto in cannon. Which is true. So, this, by extension shouldn't be much of a fight. Well, I wrote this chapter with that very much in mind. I'm curious what people will think.**

 **Let's move on, epic stuff is coming up. Read on dear readers!**

 **Legacy Ascending**

Collision

 _Then, Orochimaru, S-ranked Nukenin and wanted criminal, charged forward with the intent to kill._

 _~ Mountain zone ~_

Naruto watched with wide eyes as the dark haired Sannin in disguise _moved._ Gracious and deadly, he was on them in an instant. Lightning struck down nearby and thunder rolled over the rocky canopy, and Naruto was struck with inspiration. He grabbed hold of Sasuke - he ignored the Uchiha's outcry - and pulled him in front of Orochimaru's path. The legendary Sannin paused. Naruto's assumption had been spot on, he wanted Sasuke alive.

Instead of attacking them head-on, Orochimaru slithered past Sasuke and shot his arm towards Naruto. Who firmly placed his boot on Sasuke's buttocks and kicked off of him like a springboard. Orochimaru's limb extended unnaturally far, and Naruto saw his pale, slender fingertips try to grab after him in mid back flip.

Sasuke was sent stumbling, and out of nowhere, a second Naruto appeared beside him in a Shunshin. He grabbed the Uchiha and disappeared in another Shunshin, leaving only Orochimaru and Naruto on the rocky hillside.

Naruto landed a small distance away from the Nukenin, who was having a moment of deliberation. It was clear he was torn between killing Naruto, and chasing after Sasuke.

He stared in the direction his clone had went off into, before returning his gaze back to him.

"You . . . pre-emptively made a Kage Bunshin before facing me, and had it wait for the first opportunity to remove Sasuke-kun?" His voice was raspy.

"Yes, and when they get to the safe-zone my clone will warn Ibiki, and your time posing as someone else in this exam will be over."

"Ku ku ku, you really thought this through, Naruto-kun." Orochimaru seemed more amused than anything. "But did you forget yourself in the plan? I mean, you are all alone, completely at my mercy."

"I didn't forget anything." Naruto called out, he realized stalling for time until help arrived was the best course of action. "I am exactly where I have to be. But you? First, I kill one of your pawns, she put up no resistance, then I swoop the Uchiha out of your reach. Must be aggravating to have your plans derailed by a kid."

If Orochimaru thought Kin was dead, he wouldn't try looking after her.

"You killed the girl?" Orochimaru became very still, his earlier amusement was gone.

"Dead and buried." Naruto stared unblinkingly at Orochimaru even as the heavy rain pelted down at his face.

"She was supposed to be a sacrifice for the summons . . ." Naruto barely heard the low voice through the rain. "Well, I have other pawns I can use, no harm done."

He returned his gaze back to Naruto, his eyes looked different now, more predatory. "Do you think stalling your death will prevent it, Naruto-kun?"

"I'm not dying today, Orochimaru." Naruto kept his voice even despite the threat, but he did start to mold chakra. A clever move, because just as he finished speaking, Orochimaru shot a concentrated wave of killing intent at him. Its effect was heavily reduced, but it still shook him.

Kurama's chakra was like a fiery ocean of malice and hatred. Orochimaru was completely different. His chakra was hell frozen over, sinister and dreadful and completely lacking any empathy. Its potency was terrifying, and it made Naruto seize up for a second.

"Hoh, did you anticipate me? Such a clever boy. Did Jiraiya teach you?" Orochimaru had gone from terrifying and back to amused curiosity in the blink of an eye. It made his poker face slip somewhat.

"Your old teammate?" Naruto asked, trying to regain his mask. He did not want Orochimaru to gain any useful intel from him.

"Tight lipped hmm . . . Well, let's find out then." Orochimaru murmured to himself. Strangely enough, he then lifted his head to the skies. At first, Naruto thought he was enjoying the rainfall, but then he saw the muscles in his throat work and convulse. Slowly, the hilt of what could only be a sword protruded out of his mouth. Bit by bit, Orochimaru was regurgitating a whole sword.

Jiraiya had told him about the blade - the Kusanagi - yesterday, but he had failed to mention Orochimaru kept it _inside_ of him. He unsealed his Wakizashi and fell into his stance. The time for stalling was over. He squeezed out as much chakra as he dared cling onto and stared determinedly at Orochimaru, who now held the Kusanagi. He was about to fight a Sannin to the death.

 **xXx**

 _~ In the no-fight zone ~_

"Like I've said numerous times now, I will only speak to Naruto . . ." Kin explained to her most recent interrogator. The brazen woman stared down at her from in front of the tent flaps, her facial expression overshadowed. Kin met her gaze resolutely from the stretcher she was lying on.

"Why him?" The woman who had introduced herself as Mitarashi Anko, asked her.

"I will only speak to-"

"Bah! You're insufferable!" Anko waved her reply away.

There was a knock at the tent pole outside. Anko considered telling the person to fuck off, but decided against it. She stepped outside.

"What?" She snapped at the Chunin standing stiffly in front of the tent.

"Ibiki told me to fetch you, Mitarashi-san! It was important, I am to guard the girl until instructed otherwise!" He closed his left fist over his heart, a very respectful salute. One Anko rarely received unless something was really important.

"Fine." She groaned out the word and made her way across the clearing and past the announcement podium. The Chunin she passed were all hurrying somewhere, she noted. Something had happened.

She saw Ibiki first, standing tall and talking sternly to two short figures. She recognized both, Uchiha Sasuke, the village prodigy, and Naruto, the self-proclaimed Uzumaki.

Naruto was speaking with intensity, his body language screamed "listen to me".

"Ibiki, what's up?"

The trio snapped their heads in her direction.

"Anko! Get over here! We have a code red." Ibiki told her grimly.

 _Code red? That could only mean a large-scale direct attack, or a known S-ranked hostile in our territory._

A large-scale attack did not seem very likely. Anko frowned, S-ranked hostiles were not to be trifled with. "Ibiki, brief me. Who is it?"

It wasn't Ibiki who answered her question however, but Naruto.

"It's Orochimaru."

Anko stared sharply at the boy, looking for signs of deceit, but the fact that Ibiki didn't correct him gave the statement credence. Now that she was looking at him, Anko could see that he was breathing hard. Sasuke for his sake looked thoroughly trounced too.

"He was about to bite Sasuke in the neck, I think he was trying to do something to him." Naruto began to explain. _He had tried to brand Sasuke with a cursed seal._ Anko realized and gave the Uchiha a glance, she became self-conscious of her own curse mark.

"I stopped him and took Sasuke back here." Naruto finished.

"It's true." The dark-haired boy threw in his support.

"Just like that?" Anko asked incredulously.

"No, I stayed behind. This is just a Kage Bunshin." Naruto - err, the clone - explained.

"What!?" She nearly shouted the word, shocked and outraged at the same time. "Wh- Are you STUPID?! Do you even know what he's capable of!? You moron! Where is he!"

Ibiki stepped forward and put a gentle hand on Anko's shoulder. "Anko, calm down, I've already issued commands, we're slowly boxing him in as we speak. The Hokage has just been informed, he's on his way with the ANBU."

Anko shook Ibiki's arm off of her shoulder and stared at the two Genin present.

"Where?" She repeated herself.

"I can take you there." The clone offered. "I haven't disappeared, so the original is still alive, but that is probably just a matter of time . . ."

"Go!" Anko shouted.

The clone gave Sasuke and Ibiki a final look, before he turned on the spot and sprinted off with Anko at his heels.

Ibiki stared after his subordinate and let out a slow sigh, as always, Mitarashi did as she pleased.

 **xXx**

Naruto brought up his Wakizashi just in time to stop Orochimaru's forward thrust. But the pressure didn't stop, instead, his boots slid through the brown rain water. The Kusanagi was _extending_ itself and gaining girth, pressing into his Wakizashi. Unfazed by this, Naruto began his countermove.

The voice of Jiraiya chimed in the back of his head as he moved. _"Slap the blade aside and step in confidently-"_

Naruto flicked the Kusanagi aside and strode forth with blue eyes blazing.

" _-When he retracts the Kusanagi, his next move will chop your head off. Go low."_

Naruto took another deep stride and felt a few strands of hair get cut off.

" _You have to move as if you're going to strike him-"_

Using his right arm, Naruto thrusted his Wakizashi forth, it thrummed with an invisible edge. Orochimaru retracted his Kusanagi again and expertly caught his Wakizashi in its guard. Naruto's left arm shot out, there was a tiny puff of smoke and a small Tanto appeared in his hand.

Just before he pierced skin, Orochimaru _grabbed_ his arm and held it. He smiled condescendingly, showcasing a pair of unnaturally sharp teeth. He moved to bite him.

" _After he's cornered you, he'll feel superior and let his guard down, this is the moment you strike."_

Naruto said nothing, but a chaotic burst of chakra emanated from the tip of the Tanto, wind natured and shaped like a pointed lance. It was a point-blank shot with very little buildup. Orochimaru's pale eyes widened a fraction, and he immediately released Naruto and twisted away. Despite the incredible reaction time, Naruto saw the Jutsu rip bloody chunks out of his side.

Orochimaru reappeared a small distance away from him, he stood hunched over, the rainwater beneath him was quickly turning red. Hardly thinking about the decision, Naruto ran forward.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu." Orochimaru muttered, and held out a bloodied hand.

Half a dozen enormous black snakes shot out of the resulting smoke clouds, they were thick as trees around their midsection. They hissed and began to slither towards him. Naruto slid to a complete stop and resealed his Wakizashi, and with a single, measured slice of his Tanto, Naruto drew blood.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" He called out. Two could play that game.

Out of his much larger smoke cloud, a gigantic green and teal toad emerged. Gamahiro quickly unsheathed his longswords, he hated snakes with a passion.

" **Naruto? What's going on?"** Gamahiro asked, clearly confused about the situation.

"Gamahiro! keep his summons off of me!" Naruto called out, too invested in the fight to exchange any pleasantries.

Naruto kicked off with a will and began to run vertically across one of the many rock walls. A snake lunged after him, but Gamahiro struck it down before it reached him. Naruto blasted himself off of the wall with a big chakra pulse, he soared through the air and used one of the snakes as a way to springboard himself further ahead.

Naruto anticipated some kind of counter attack by now, so he made two Kage Bunshin and used them as stepping stones to change his trajectory. His intuition had been dead on, both clones were popped by the Kusanagi.

Naruto landed and saw the blade retract back to Orochimaru. He was standing in the same spot, but he was completely different now. Gone was the normal looking man from earlier, this was the real form of Orochimaru, a snowy white complexion and slit, yellow eyes. His disguise laid at his feet like a shed skin, the wound from earlier was gone.

"I was hoping you would reveal something like that." Orochimaru nodded in the direction of Gamahiro, who was quite busy chopping up reptiles.

"Now I know for certain Jiraiya was your mentor." He smiled pointedly. "Well, I suppose playtime is over now, Good bye, Naruto-kun."

 _So, he really was just toying with me now . . ._

Orochimaru and Naruto both set into motion at the same time. Naruto used Kawarimi and switched places with the kunai Dozu had tried to kill Sasuke with. From there he vitalized his body with a big influx of chakra and disappeared in a Shunshin. He reappeared further down the mountainside on top of a large slab of rock that emerged out of the mountain at a tilt.

There was a shift in the air beside him. _Already?!_ With wide eyes, Naruto whirled around and cleaved through the air with his Tanto. It lodged itself into something that only looked like Orochimaru, it was an earth clone. Naruto felt the air shift behind him again, he barely had time enough to reinforce himself with chakra, much less turn around.

The powerful kick sent him down the mountainside like a comet. He collided with the ground and bounced down the steep hillside like a ragdoll. The ground was slick with rainwater, so he got no burns, but sharp rocks and pointy branches stabbed into his combat suit and pierced flesh. He slid to a stop by the edge of a cliffside. Gingerly, he picked himself up. The only reason he could still move without issue was because he had reinforced himself with chakra.

Rainwater was rushing over his boots and over the cliffside, he thought he could see the mountain lake at the bottom of the vertical drop, but the rain was so thick now it was hard to see anything. Lightning briefly lit up the surrounding area, and he was left with a momentary pitch black darkness as it faded. He could feel a rumble in the earth.

An instinctual urge rose in him and compelled him to _move_. Naruto obeyed his gut feeling without thought and threw himself over the edge of the cliff. In the air, he hastily made a pair of clones and used them to launch himself towards the face of the cliff wall. He lodged a wind enhanced kunai into one of the crevices that he saw, effectively keeping him in place.

In the next moment, tons upon tons of brown water crashed over the rocks above and roared over the edge of the cliff. The murky flood water kept coming in force for a full ten seconds or so, during which Naruto could only stare in awe as it cascaded harmlessly an arm's length away from him. Orochimaru had manipulated all of the nearby water in the area with some kind of high-end Suiton Jutsu and sent it rushing down the hillside like a focused wave.

 _Holy cow he's powerful . . ._

As the last of the power in the waterfall subsided, Naruto placed his feet against the vertical rock wall and stood upright as if it was the most natural thing in the world. He looked up, and despite the heavy rain bombarding his face he could still make out Orochimaru's figure at the ledge.

With very few sane options to choose from, Naruto did what a normal person might have considered insane. He kicked off the cliff face with a big burst of chakra and let himself fall down towards the lake below.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" He bellowed into the whipping air.

Gamabunta - the largest of the toads - appeared beneath him. Naruto grabbed hold of the amphibian and did his best to stick himself to the toad with chakra. If Orochimaru had made a big wave earlier, then what Gamabunta produced when he fell into the small lake beneath the cliff was an enormous tidal wave.

A few days earlier, Naruto had estimated that the lake could have submerged a house, but Gamabunta was more than twice the size of any normal house. When he hit rock bottom, he was only halfway submerged. The resulting explosion of water shot far up into the sky, and the waves that ripped across the tiny shore and tore into the forest zone were pretty tall.

Incredibly enough, the ongoing storm concealed the incredible event from anyone who were not close enough to be affected by it.

" **Boy! What's going on here?!"** Gamabunta questioned the blonde atop his head. The large toad was angrily gnawing on a half-smoked cigar that had been thoroughly soaked.

"No time for niceties, our opponent is Orochimaru." Naruto shouted and held up a familiar cross sign. Half a dozen Kage Bunshin popped up around him. Four of which dispersed as a unit and jumped off Gamabunta. Naruto felt Orochimaru's presence before he saw him, he whirled around in time to see the Sannin pop two of his clones on the rocky waves of the lake.

Not even looking at him, Orochimaru extended his Kusanagi lazily, and Naruto watched as it burst through a clone some distance away, before it zigzagged after the last one running for the tree line. It pierced through that one as well.

 _He's meticulous, he knows my clones can warn others, or I could use them to escape with a kawarimi . . . But fuck, that sword of his is ridiculous, it's like it's not even made of metal at times. And if what's Jiraiya said is correct, it can even pierce metal._

"Gamabunta!"Naruto shouted to get the large toad's attention. "We'll do it now!" Naruto commanded. The large toad sniffed at him first, but then took a deep breath. He spewed out a jet of oil from his mouth towards Orochimaru, Naruto watched as the two clones beside him stepped forth and weaved through the necessary hand signs quickly.

"Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu!"

"Fūton: Daitoppa!"

The fire bullet hit the oil stream first and made a small firestorm. Then the large gust of wind struck home, and turned parts of the lake into a literal inferno. The lake was on fire and burning _despite_ the intense rain. Naruto patted the two clones on their shoulder and gestured for them to back off and keep some distance to him.

He wanted a safety net for what came next.

Then, without warning, the most colossal serpent Naruto had ever seen shot out of the burning water and lunged straight for Gamabunta. Who quickly moved into stance and grabbed after his oversized Tanto. Gamabunta roared fiercely and held up the blade towards the huge, purple serpent. The summon shied away from the blade and began to slither out of the burning water, clearly looking for an opening to strike at Gamabunta.

"I'll take on Orochimaru, you keep that thing busy!" Naruto shouted.

" **You darn brat! That** _ **thing,**_ **is Manda, and he's far stronger than I am!"** Gamabunta told him in outrage.

"I'm not exactly fighting on a completely level field either you know!" Naruto shot back and leapt of the large, rust-red toad.

He hit the water below and quickly stabilized himself with chakra, his two clones close behind him. The water was still turbulent, but far calmer already as compared to just half a minute ago. Naruto took off at a sprint towards shore. He could hear Gamabunta and Manda scuffle loudly in the water behind him. He snuck a quick peek and had to admit the two giant summons fighting made for an incredible sight in the storm.

Naruto reached shore, which was mostly made up of sleek rocks slick with water. Everywhere there were clear signs that a natural disaster had just struck. Things one would normally find at the bottom of a lake were haphazardly strewn about the shore, tangy seaweed, waterlilies, various fish and crustaceans. Some of the shortest and closest trees were completely uprooted, while most were just very skewed.

Not pausing much to take in the environment on the shore, Naruto took another backwards glance. The oil sleet on the lake had more or less burned away by now, and the fire was quickly ebbing out as a result. Naruto just hoped the collaboration Jutsu had been enough to make a signal to anyone looking for either him or Orochimaru.

Suddenly, Naruto felt sick, it was that foul chakra approaching again. Orochimaru had such potent and powerful chakra, it was painfully easy to detect him, and he was nearby now. His two clones took up position behind him on both sides. Naruto saw him then, walking onto shore and towards him at a measured pace.

The epitome of a predator calmly approaching its prey.

"You're a resilient one, aren't you?" The Sannin smiled at him. "I'll give you credit for making it this far, very few do."

"We haven't even gotten to the best part." Naruto told him with grim determination.

"My, my, I can see now that your earlier confidence was not entirely misplaced. A pity really, what a waste." Orochimaru flicked a forked tongue over his lips and pointed his Kusanagi at him. "Time to die, Namikaze boy."

Naruto dodged to the side when the Kusanagi came for him, but the sword swerved after him. Naruto used kawarimi to replace himself with a snapped off branch that laid by the tree line. The sword continued to follow him, but then it suddenly stopped. His clones had attacked Orochimaru in a pincer attack, and that had forced him to retract the Kusanagi.

Naruto didn't pause to watch his clones get demolished, instead he hurried into the forest. There was flood water on the forest floor, almost reaching up to his ankles. Because of this, it made a lot of sound to walk on the ground. Not that it mattered, he had gotten a sense of how fast Orochimaru was by now, and he was pretty sure the Sannin would catch up to him in about four seconds or so.

Naruto swiftly dug into his weathered combat vest to find a black smoke bomb, which he activated and showed into the nook of a crocked tree. Naruto quickly walked up a nearby trunk and hid in the branches. He tried to squeeze down on his remaining chakra as much as possible. Hopefully, Orochimaru wouldn't be able to pinpoint his exact location.

 **xXx**

Anko looked at the scene in front of her with a dispassionate professionality. The corpse of the Oto Genin she quickly discarded as unimportant. The large tracks and indents left behind in the rocky ground were interesting, but gave her no clue as to what had happened. There were big rifts in the ground too, large chunks of torn up dirt. Whoever had fought here had used a very big weapon.

"One of my summons probably made those." The clone she had tagged along with explained, he was out of breath, but otherwise fine.

"But what happened here, it looks like you put up a fight, but ultimately lost . . ."

"What's that?" The clone pointed out.

Anko gazed in the same direction. Distant thunder rumbled over the skies. The rain seemed to be never-ending, and the sky was starting to turn dark. Despite the extreme downpour, she thought there was something bright further down the hillside. A fire?

"I think it has to be them." The clone said. "You should go on ahead, I'll only slow you down from here."

Anko gave the haggard clone a dip of her head and shot off with impressive speed.

 **xXx**

When Orochimaru stopped in front of his smokescreen, Naruto prepared himself to ambush him. But then, the Sannin struck out with the Kusanagi and _sliced_ through every tree in the vicinity like they were all made out of cardboard. There was a large cacophony of noise as two dozen trees crashed into the ground. Naruto jumped off the branches he was in and landed on the soggy forest floor, but he quickly had to jump out of the way of another tree that came close to crushing him.

Orochimaru said something aloud, and suddenly a powerful gust of wind blew away leaves and snapped off twigs, the smokescreen was completely dispelled.

"So many tricksss!" The Sannin came stepping over two tree trunks and dug his eyes straight into Naruto, he then lunged straight for him.

"Just die already!" He screamed.

Naruto snapped into his most versatile stance and felt adrenaline shoot up his veins. Orochimaru charged straight at him and lashed out with the Kusanagi. Naruto shot out both arms and unsealed his B _ō_ staff. The staff embedded itself into the ground, and Naruto vaulted himself into the air.

Orochimaru snarled and bolted after him. The Bōstaff disappeared and Naruto snapped out his left arm and shot off a _Futon: Kazekiri_ from midair. The experienced Sannin merely dodged the wind cutter, and burst after him again. Naruto landed on a fallen willow tree, it lurched slightly when he made his landing, it was unstable because of the trees beneath it. Orochimaru crunched into the tree bark behind him, which caused the entire willow trunk to slide off of some of the trees under it and roll onto a trunk further down in the pile.

Naruto nearly lost his balance, but he grabbed hold of a branch and began to weave past the many offshoots covering the trunk. Orochimaru followed behind him with a fury, bending and slithering past the branches like only a snake could. The Sannin caught up to him in no time at all.

Cornered and on the verge of desperation, Naruto moved into form and made a broad diagonal sweep with a blade only he could see. While confused at first, Orochimaru realized what he was doing at the very last second and leaned back to avoid the phantom slash.

However, Naruto didn't unseal his short Wakizashi in mid-swing. He unsealed his Katana. A sword which was nearly _twice_ the length of his Wakizashi. Orochimaru's eyes bulged at the sight of it. Offshoots were cut off clean, droplets of rain were sliced in half, and Orochimaru received a long gash from his left hip to his first rib.

The scream that followed was loud.

Adrenaline pounding in his ears, Naruto stepped forward with his Katana held high. He was caught by surprise when the neck and throat of Orochimaru extended itself and shot out like it had done before. The Sannin then _bit_ down on his Katana and held it in place.

Naruto tried to yank it free, but when that failed he began to channel chakra into the blade. But the Sannin released the sword from his mouth and gaped. Naruto saw a swordtip fly out of Orochimaru's wide open mouth. He tried to sidestep and grab after the Kusanagi, but he failed on both accounts. The blade whizzed past his fingers and made a cut in his throat.

Naruto stumbled and dropped his Katana. The Kusanagi quickly retracted itself back into its owner, who gave Naruto a cold smile. Naruto had no idea if he was bleeding badly or not, but he hoped the main artery was still intact. If he'd been just a tiny bit faster he could have grabbed the blade. Sealing the Kusanagi away would have been huge.

"Dropped your sword, Naruto-kun?" Orochimaru let out a sadistic laugh, but he stopped quickly, and Naruto caught the pained expression that flew over his face. He coughed slightly and hunched over, his own injury was clearly giving him difficulty. Hope sparked inside Naruto. If the wound he had given Orochimaru had been more lethal than first anticipated, he might still have a chance.

Lightning struck down again, but this time it was far away, and it took several long seconds before the thunder caught up with it. The cold, hard rain was starting to turn Naruto's fingers numb. He had to attack now, before Orochimaru managed to inexplicably regenerate himself again.

Naruto flipped through five hand signs in rapid motion, he then stepped on a branch and jumped towards another tree limb, which caused the tree to roll down the pile further. Naruto let his reflexes guide him in-between the moving boughs as electricity began to spark between his fingers. He pointed his dominant hand towards the Nukenin.

"Raiton: Jibashi!" A surge of lightning ripped into the air towards Orochimaru, who held up a hand. The Jutsu was canceled out upon contact without doing any damage. Naruto bounced over to another branch and pulled off another Jutsu.

"Futon: Kazekiri!" The stormy weather around him obeyed, and powerful winds tore towards Orochimaru. The Nukenin danced out of the way of the wind blades and made a chop at the branch Naruto was standing on. The younger Shinobi skipped off the limb and brought himself down on Orochimaru, he unsealed his Wakizashi just in time to contest the Kusanagi.

The two fought for dominance for half a second, but Naruto resealed the Wakizashi and carefully stepped out of Orochimaru's sudden attack. He unsealed the Tanto and made a vertical cut up, his wind natured chakra drastically increased his reach. Orochimaru slithered out of the way and unexpectedly pounced on him from between two crisscrossing branches. His right arm shot out like a projectile and hit him square in the chest.

Naruto burst through two branches and hit the soggy ground before he crashed with his back into a large tree stump. Pushing through the pain, Naruto clambered back onto his feet. He was dizzy and his entire body was aching, but he could still move. He felt the Nukenin approach him at a ravenous speed. Naruto created three clones and turned to face the Sannin. The clones behind him - each of them just as haggard as he was - flicked kunai at the approaching Snake summoner.

The projectiles were too slow. Orochimaru ran past them. Two of his clones switched places with the Kunai and appeared behind the snake summoner. His last clone ran courageously ahead to face the Sannin head on. Orochimaru burst through that one like it was nothing, he was caught a bit off guard when the real Naruto appeared in the air beside him. The young Uzumaki twisted his upper body and delivered a powerful kick aimed at the man's midsection, but Orochimaru bent at an unnatural 90 degree angle no ordinary human could ever copy. The Sannin then gracefully moved into a kick of his own, standing on one leg he kicked _down_ at the still airborne Naruto.

The boy was smacked ruthlessly into the ground, where he burst into a small cloud of smoke. A well-timed Kawarimi had saved him. Orochimaru whirled himself around and struck out an arm. Naruto brushed the arm aside and lashed out with a strike of his own. Orochimaru struck down his attack and retaliated faster than the naked eye could see.

Naruto barely redirected the blow and quickly had to hold up a guard, but Orochimaru broke through it easily and grabbed hold of his throat in a death grip. Naruto burst into smoke again, the last clone had switched places with him. A small distance away, Naruto wheezed slightly. His windpipe had almost been crushed before the clone had swapped with him.

There was a rumble of thunder, and it blocked out the sound of Orochimaru's next Jutsu. Naruto failed to spot the hand signs through the hard rain, so he was unprepared when the earth beneath him shook and rearranged itself. He immediately tried to dash out of the danger zone, but a jagged spike of earth shot up and clipped him in the side, causing him to crash into the ground.

Holding his bleeding side, Naruto scrambled to his feet. He reflexively unsealed his Wakizashi and cleaved the air behind him without even having to look. Orochimaru brushed past his attack and nailed him straight in the face with a powerful punch. For a full two seconds, Naruto soared through the air, he then hit the ground with no chakra reinforcement whatsoever.

He tumbled across the soaked ground until he came to a natural stop.

The taste of blood welled up in his mouth, and moving his head and neck caused excruciating pain. He wasn't sure, but he expected fractures and internal bleeding inside his thoracic cavity. Grave injuries even to someone like him, had the situation been any different, Naruto would have stayed limp. But as it were, surrendering to pain now meant death.

As a plus, he could still mold chakra.

So, despite his body's loud protest, Naruto shoved his arm into his Fuinjutsu pouch and took out a random seal. He got an explosive tag of his own design. Powerful enough to blow up an entire house, and it retained its functionality even in heavy rain. Slightly delirious at this point, Naruto considered it a lucky grab.

He turned his head ever so slightly to get a glimpse of Orochimaru's approaching figure, Naruto held the scroll up and shot out a focused blast of air from his palm. The scroll was sent hurtling through the rain. When it passed Orochimaru, Naruto held up a hand sign from his prone position and detonated it remotely.

The scene in front of him lit up brightly, the ground shook, and the air vibrated. The pressure was strong enough to roll him over a few times and send him scraping across the ground. When he came to a stop, Naruto was lying on his back. The rain above continued to hammer down at him unrelentingly.

He laid there with his eyes closed, trying to come to terms with the fact that he couldn't hear the constant pitter patter of the rain anymore. He could hardly even feel his own injuries, instead, a nice feeling of warmth was spreading through him. His senses were steadily growing dimmer.

Distantly, he felt a change occur. The rain that had pelted down at his face had stopped. It took a significant effort of will, but Naruto managed to open his eyes. A figure stood over him. It looked like the person was waving and shouting to get someone's attention. It was a familiar person, Naruto thought to himself.

When she bent down, Naruto recognized her. Anko grabbed his hand and her mouth opened and closed repeatedly, but Naruto heard nothing.

"I can't hear you . . ." He coughed, and blood shot out of his mouth. Two additional figures appeared, they bent down beside him. One of them started to cut away the fabric of his combat jacket. _Oh . . . are they going to do a field surgery?_

Naruto drowsily glanced back at Anko, she looked worried for some reason.

"I'm just going to rest my eyes for a bit." Naruto mumbled out and closed his eyes. Everything became dark and silent, he hardly even felt his body anymore at this point. It was a surreal experience, but not an unpleasant one. Someone shook him, but it was no use. Naruto was already unconscious.

 **xXx**

When Naruto returned to his consciousness, it didn't occur gradually. He woke with a start, eyes open and alert. His heartrate rocketed, and he immediately threw away the white sheets covering him and sat up in the hospital bed. Physically, he felt perfectly fine, which meant entire days had gone by.

Immediately, Naruto worried about things. Had the top brass decided to interrogate Kin with him unconscious? And what about some of the more cryptic things Orochimaru had said? A sacrifice implied a ritual, and rituals were _never_ a good thing.

Naruto had to speak to Jiraiya and the Hokage.

He skipped out of the bed and made a quick sweep through the room in case some of his apparel was nearby. It wasn't. Naruto paused in front of the tiny bathroom mirror. Despite his energy, he still looked like shit. There were dark bags beneath his eyes, and he resolved to get a haircut sometime soon. His blonde locks were getting far too long and unruly.

After throwing a last glance around the spartan room, Naruto opened the window and made his exit from the premises in a green hospital gown. Using the Shunshin, Naruto arrived at his apartment in just a few minutes time. When he reached his door, Naruto held up a hand and a tiny keyring popped into existence between his thumb and pointer finger.

He unlocked the door and quickly threw off the hospital gown. His body had several pale, new scars, but they would be gone in a few weeks. He gave the black ink spiraling up his right arm a look over. Naruto channeled the necessary chakra and the keyring in his hand vanished. He watched as the bottommost spiral swiftly _crawled_ over his skin and set itself into the 'sealed' position.

If he got time some free time the following month, he might add onto the tattoo.

Not wasting anymore time, Naruto entered his bedroom and threw on some clothes. He then left for the Hokage building.

 **xXx**

Sarutobi Hiruzen exhaled languidly. The first phase of the exam had concluded two days ago. In less than a month, the final part of the exam would be hosted live in front of the most powerful people on the continent and a vast audience. The entire spectacle would be broadcasted live.

This, unfortunately, caused some worry among the more prominent clans of Konoha. Especially after that . . . _incident_ a couple days ago in the arena.

"How did Orochimaru bypass our screening process? I verified each and every Genin on the roster this year, they all checked out!" Inoichi Yamanaka exclaimed.

Shikaku shook his head. "He never underwent any screening. Orochimaru killed an entire team from Kusagakure to impersonate their leader, Shiore, that's how he infiltrated the Arena. Our guard personnel outside the arena were not lax in their duties. Orochimaru simply walked in pretending to be a Kusagakure Genin."

Hiruzen watched on in silence for a moment as the clan heads around the long oak table discussed the event. They were on the third floor in the Hokage building. The space there was entirely devoted to hosting large parties of people, ranging from visits from the Daimyo, diplomatic parties from other nations, council meetings and his bi-monthly sessions with the clan heads.

The rectangular room was brightly lit, on the wall to the right there was a large map spanning all of the elemental nations. The wall to the left had smaller, more local maps, and a smattering of statistical reports.

"-ama? Hokage-sama?"

"Hmm, what was that, Tsume?" Hiruzen asked politely from his position at the end of the table.

"Casualties, Hokage-Sama. How many casualties were there?" The Inuzuka clan head stared at her leader. Whenever Orochimaru was involved, people died.

"None." Hiruzen informed with a smile.

Shikaku had been informed of that particular tidbit, so he was not surprised. But the rest of the group around the table showed visible signs of confusion, even Aburame Shibi arched a thin eyebrow.

"How come?" Tsume frowned.

"We haven't been given many details prior to the meeting, Hokage-sama. I think some enlightenment is due." Akimichi Choza stated from his seat, arms crossed over his burly chest.

"Of course. While I don't have all the pieces to this, I'm sure I can shed some light on the matter. I believe we will know more once our operative who fought Orochimaru wakes up." Hiruzen paused for slight moment to clear his throat.

"I will relay the events in the same way Ibiki did for me . . . Two days ago, Orochimaru infiltrated the arena as a participant of the exam. The goal he had in mind had something to do with Uchiha Sasuke. Orochimaru tried to brand him with a curse seal."

The faces around the table turned grim at the mention of this, attacking them was one thing, but attacking the coming generation was inexcusable. It was against their most important creed, The Will of Fire.

"Our operative, who is still hospitalized after the incident, managed to avert the situation and get Sasuke to safety. Then, Orochimaru and our man fought. The first people to arrive at the scene in the forest zone confirmed that Orochimaru had been forced to use his regurgitation technique before he made his escape. To those of you unfamiliar with the Jutsu, it's a special trump card he can use to clear his body free of all damage. The fact that he used it speaks volumes about the situation he was in."

Hiruzen paused there for effect, he wanted to drive in the point. This had been their victory, not Orochimaru's.

"Now, I've been thinking hard about how to turn this event into our favor among the other nations and . . ."

"Oi! Hokage-sama, who is this operative? He fought Orochimaru and _survived?_ "

"Since Hokage-sama never omitted any names, I believe it is safe to assume it was an ANBU, Inuzuka-san." Hiashi Hyuuga pointed out, his pale, white eyes glancing around the table.

"While that is a very logical assumption, Hiashi, this time you missed the mark." Hiruzen smiled, inwardly pleased Naruto had been brought up.

"I suspected Orochimaru might try something like this, so I placed an agent of my own in the exam who could investigate freely. His young age made it easy for him to pose as participant of the exams, although his skills _did_ reveal him as highly overqualified . . .

"Out with it old man, give us a name!" The ill-tempered woman glared at their leader.

"His name is Uzumaki-" The Sandaime began to announce with aplomb, but then the double doors leading out of the room opened, and a young person walked in.

". . . Naruto?" Sarutobi finished lamely. He had not expected to see the boy here, especially not so soon. One after the other, the people in the room turned to look at the newcomer. Naruto met each gaze calmly, before he carefully closed the doors behind him.

"I think you want to hear my report, Hokage-sama." Naruto stated with both arms folded behind him.

 **A/N This is where I wrap it up for now. So, what did you think? Give me your honest opinion about the fight, I'm looking forward to it!**

 **Next chapter will be far longer, I wrote this one in a third of the time I usually take, since a lot of you wanted a quick update after the last cliffhanger (sorry about that).**

 **Anyways, I estimate the next piece will be out sometime in October, it's hard for me to be precise. Until then, I wish you the best!**

 **\- The Epic Pen, signing off.**


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